Guardian of Time
by H. B. Dragonheart
Summary: He thought he could escape it, but Destiny has come to claim Link. Hiding from the shadows of the Fierce Deity, he must come to realise his true fate to be more than just a hero... pt 2 of 4
1. Prologue

Guardian of Time - Preview

_**Guardian of Time **  
From darkness comes the power of light...  
_Sequel to The Hero's Many Faces

_ **Prologue - Where The Mind Roams ** _

_-_

_He looked out over the ruins of the castle. How had he gotten here, where he had fought Ganondorf the first time - twelve years ago by his timescale, but only five to anyone else. _

_This wasn't the world he lived in.  
This was the world of the past, of the seven sages and..._

_Link became aware that he was being watched. He span round...  
"It's good to see you again!"  
For a second, he paused, speechless. "Sheik? Zelda?!"  
"Of course."  
"But why are you still dressed like that? Ganondorf's gone. There's no danger to hide from, anymore."  
"I could easily ask you the same question, fierce one."  
Link looked at himself in surprise. The armour, the clothing... he twitched at a lock of his hair, and noticed its silver colour. He could imagine what his reflection looked like. "Oh. Yes. But despite this, I'm not... I mean, I don't feel like..."_

_Sheik walked up to Link. "It is hard to take the form of another, without becoming that person. You and I both know that. We've both hidden behind masks, one way or another...  
"Masks are only tools, a means to an end and not the end itself. Perhaps all they can ever do is bring out the face underneath, the face in your mind that only comes out in darkness..."  
"You're speaking in riddles. I don't understand."  
"One day, soon, you will. There are things afoot, both here, and the world that you have been calling home. Link! Understand this, even if you can't understand what I said before. Destiny has still not finished playing its games with you. You are not just the hero of time... You are its guardian."_

__He jolted awake, brushing blond hair from his eyes. What did that mean? The guardian of time? 

All Legend of Zelda games and characters are owned by Nintendo.  
Please tell me what you think.. Thank you! All reviews will be loved and cherished.  



	2. Truth from the Shadows

Guardian of Time - Chapter 1

**_Guardian of Time_**

Usual disclaimers apply. Nintendo own the Zelda games and characters. You'll see which characters I own, though.  
To set the scene for new readers, this occurs 12 years after 'Majora's Mask'. Link is now 23 years old.   
For old readers, however, this takes place immediately after 'The Hero's Many Faces'.

Please bear with me on this chapter. I'm just setting up characters, really.

**_Chapter One - Truth from the Shadows _ **   
- 

_...She looked up into his face, blue eyes full of fear. "Who are you?" she whispered. "Why are you doing this to us?" But as Saria gazed on that face so full of hatred, she realised...  
"You are a part of my past, Forest Sage... a past I no longer need..."  
The blade, shimmering blue, stabbed forwards and a river of red sprang from the eternal child's heart. A last faint whisper... "Link! Why..."  
"I am no longer who you knew..."..._

He woke up and stared blankly into space. Would the past haunt him like this forever?... Ten cruel years, under the mask of a Fierce Deity - a fighter, a destroyer, a killer. But now he had a chance to set things right. He had a new life now, in Termina - and a new love.  
Slowly, Link stirred, and listened to the sounds of the early morning. Birdsong outside, and the early morning sunshine slanted through the curtains. He heard soft footsteps walking downstairs, and made a guess who that was - the landlord's daughter, and his girlfriend of eighteen months' time, Alena. No-one else he knew walked that quietly.   
Suddenly, the near-silence was broken with a shout. It sounded like Alena's father had woken up before her. And he was angry over something. 

"What is this?!" A wooden clatter, as would be caused by... a mask bouncing across the table.  
Link looked round, searching for a relic of his past. It was nowhere to be seen. No... he hadn't left _it_ downstairs, had he? No... he wouldn't have been that careless. Or would he? Anyway, somehow, Alena's father had got his hands on the mask - and he wasn't too pleased about it.  
The calm, soft voice replying was a total contrast. "That belongs to Link."  
"What? You knew about this? How long have you known?"  
"He told me who he'd been a few weeks ago, but I only saw the mask for the first time two days ago at the carnival."  
"That's just great. Just great." A pause. "I want that... that deceiver, out of here. You may think he's harmless, but I promise you, he's trouble! One day... he can't keep who he is under wraps forever!"  
"What do you mean?" Alena sounded shocked.  
"It's all in the books, isn't it? One of many faces..." The speech paused, and paper rustled.  
"How is that trouble? You already knew most of the story, and it never worried you before. If he hadn't been... we wouldn't even be here now! You can't kick Link out over some stupid legend..."  
"Stupid? Alena, my girl, the legends are not stupid. It is quite simple. He is leaving. To think that I am going to put up with the... the... Fi..."  
"The Fierce Deity? Can't you just say the words? Are you so afraid? And if you fear him so much, how can you dare to kick him out?"  
He pretended not to hear. "Anyway, you can take _this_, and go tell _him_ he's going."  
Alena spoke again, in a quieter tone. "If he goes... I'm going too. I love him, Father, despite everything."  
The reply, when it came, was cold and distant. "Fine. Fine. You go. But walk through my door with your hand in his... and you will no longer be welcome here."  
"Then that is what I will do." 

Link hid his head in the pillows. He had never heard so much hatred in old Darris's tones. _I don't blame him_, he thought. _If I'd just found out who I was, I'd probably hate me too_. But still, it came as a shock. He groaned.   
The door was pushed open. "Are you awake?"  
"Mmm... yes. I am. And I heard everything."   
"I'm sorry..."  
"No. You shouldn't be. It's my own stupid fault for leaving that mask lying around. So. Looks like this is it, then." Link slowly swung his legs out of bed, and groaned. The injuries he'd sustained from his fight two nights ago still hurt, despite any amount of potions. He seized a tunic left over a chair, and slipped it over his head. "Better pack my bags. I doubt your dad's gonna be happy if I hang around too long. Not now he knows... who I was."  
"I don't think it's just that. He doesn't like anyone keeping secrets from him. Not after...oh!" Alena clapped her hand to her mouth.   
"What is it?"  
She sighed. "I'd better tell you. I mean, you've been honest with me, why shouldn't I be honest with you?" She paused, violet eyes downcast. "It's all because of my mother. You never met her, did you?" Link shook his head. "She... she was a Sheikah."  
Link looked surprised. It made sense, he supposed, with the way she walked so softly. And after all, her counterpart in another world had once masqueraded for seven years under the name "Sheik"... But why was Alena so embarrassed? "What's that got to do with anything?"  
"What do you mean... oh. Of course. It's different over in Hyrule, isn't it. Didn't you say they were the protectors of the royal family? But here... Everyone knows the Sheikah were a race of ruthless assassins. The shadow people, right? The name's well earned. In history, they'd come to a village in the dead of night. And by morning... there wouldn't be a house left standing."  
_They're not the only ones,_ Link thought. _You forget who you're talking to._ "Go on."  
"Most of that's just myth and rumour now. Everyone says they know someone, whose cousin knows someone, whose best friend's sister's brother was killed by the Sheikah... You get the picture. But you know my father. He takes history more seriously than the real world. Anyway... when he met my mother, he didn't have a clue about her heritage. They got on like a house on fire, or so she used to say anyway. But when I was fifteen... He found out. I don't think it would be much of an exaggeration to say I've never heard anything so awful. They fought for, oh, I don't know how long... I went to bed every night crying." There were tears flooding her eyes now. "In the end, she left. I miss her so much, sometimes... She still writes, but Father pretends she doesn't exist..."  
"'Lena! I had no idea..." He felt sorry for her. It was one thing, never knowing your real parents... but having one of them taken away, over something as stupid as her people's past...  
How could she have disguised who she was, anyway? He wondered, his mind wandering down a side track. Was it the same way that Zelda had dressed as Sheik?   
She blinked. "It's okay. I guess I had to talk about it sometime. I mean..." Alena paused again. "Hang on. I'll go get you a picture of her." She dashed out of the door.  
_You've got as many secrets in your past as I have, so many shadows behind you. If you can face them, perhaps I can, too. And I know where to start._

By the time she'd returned, pictograph album tucked under her arm, Link was ready.   
Alena stopped in her tracks.   
The figure she saw in front of her, sitting on the edge of the bed, was one step away from the Fierce Deity of the past. Although his face remained unmarked and his eyes blue, Link had dressed in full armour - somehow left to him, when he'd returned to his old self. His hair was ponytailed down his back, in a manner mirroring his usual taste in headwear, and he was wearing a blue-white tunic under the armour. She recognised it as one she'd bought him as a birthday present, that he'd never worn. _That's why_, she thought. _It's too like..._"Link? Why've you...?"  
He pretended nonchalance, although inside his heart was fluttering. "I don't want to leave all this behind, not with your father's opinions. Besides, it'll be hard to carry it." Link smiled in a way that contrasted with the rest of his appearance. "What about that picture, then?"  
"Oh... okay." Alena sat down and flicked through the album. "See? That's her, there."  
The picture was a happy family portrait. Two adults in the background, a girl of eleven in the front, waving at the camera. Alena, her father, and...  
Link did a double-take as he looked at the last person there. Even though the eyes were a soft brown rather than red, and no marks ran under them, he knew who - or rather whose counterpart - he was looking at.   
"Um... Alena? What's her name?"   
"What? My mum's name? Impa." She looked across at him. "Why? What's the matter?" 

Link had turned paler than the tunic he wore.  
He whispered, barely audible. "The Sage of Shadows... how?" 

He looked back at the picture, at the scene so peaceful. Dragging his eyes away from the too-familiar face, he looked at the figure of Alena's father standing there. He'd always been sure that he'd seen him before, even from the first time he'd met... _Was the feeling mutual? After all, he knew all the legends... _but now he knew why.   
If Link mentally aged the part-time historian's features, visualised what he'd look like with a beard... of course. He must be. There was no other way. Surely... 

"Alena - you know I told you that everyone in Termina has a counterpart in Hyrule, somewhere?"  
"Yes..." she slurred, unsure where this was going. "Why?"  
"Because, back there, your parents are two of the Sages I told you about - the Sages of Shadow and Light... And you are too, as I already said once." He sighed. "My past's all catching up with me, all at once." He looked up. "Seems like I'm going to have to face it, after all. If I've got to go - I'm going back to Hyrule. It's the only way."  
"I'm coming too," she interjected, a stubborn streak in her voice.  
"'Lena - you can't. It's a dangerous road back. And besides, when you got there - would you want to be seen with someone who's caused so much wrong there? You'd better stay here."  
"No way. You go, I go. I already told Father. Besides, it sounds kind of exciting..." she grinned. 

- 

A/N: Here we go again... As I said, this is a sequel, so it's probably best if you check out "The Hero's Many Faces" by yours truly if there's anything here that's confusing. Anyway, review, and you'll make me a very happy bunny. Any flames will be donated to the Dodongo sanctuary :P   
Just on a side note (arrgh! too many notes!) - Before anyone asks "how can Zelda's parallel be Impa's and Rauru's kid" - think about the Romanis. It doesn't seem to matter that Talon's parallel is decidedly not their dad. So, I stand by what I've put.


	3. Future Echoes

Guardian of Time - Chapter 2

**Guardian of Time**  
Usual applies. I don't own the Zelda characters and games. I wish I did, but... So far, I can only claim Alena.

_**Chapter 2 - Future Echoes **_  
- 

Link looked at his reflection one last time in the mirror, and fixed his own blue-eyed stare in the glass. Almost unconsciously, he reached up to his face, and traced the lines where red-and-blue stripes had once seared his features... He could almost imagine that the colours showed again for a second as he visualised where they once were, but the illusion vanished quickly. Feeling slightly sick, he shoved the mask into a pocket. He didn't want to take it, but he knew he couldn't leave it lying around...  
Finally, he secured the sword over his back and looked around. "You're sure you want to do this, aren't you?"  
Alena, dressed more like a Sheikah warrior than the quiet girl Link knew, with a knife by her side and an eye-shaped pendant, nodded. "Of course I am. Stop asking me!" she grinned. 

He led the way down the stairs and out of the house. Darris - Link had to stop himself thinking "Rauru" for a second - was waiting, an angry look on his face that Link had never really associated with it. "So. It comes to this, does it? You pretend so long to be something you're not... damn it, I should have known what you were the second I laid eyes on you! It all makes sense! And you too, girl... going off to follow your deceitful mother! Well, walk through that door, and you're not coming back! Understand?"  
She closed her eyes. "Yes. I understand. _Father_."  
The older man turned back to Link. "Go. Go away. Pretender. Deceiver. Leave my house now, _dieu vengeur_..." Link didn't understand the words in an ancient tongue, but he understood their meaning - and it hurt him. But he kept on a brave face. _Just another sort of mask, really. That of the hero_.  
"Fine. I will go." He paused. "I can forgive you for forcing me out. I can but hope that you will forgive me some day for whatever wrongs you think I have done you..." His words were steel-edged and sword-sharp.  
Darris turned his back. "It is not what you have done - but what you will do to me. And for that there will be no apologising."  
Link looked to Alena, who nodded back at him.   
Together, they walked out of the door, and back to the past. 

Clock Town was quiet, as they crossed the square. After calling on various market stalls to get supplies - there had been no opportunity to pack food - they headed for the doorway in the tower. Link put his hand on the door, to push it open - 

_-there-_

A sensation of falling, of being blown away by some ethereal gale, and he found himself...  
Where?   
A wasteland! Empty, burnt, desolate. Absolutely lifeless - not a person, not a tree, not even a monster to be seen. A crater. Yet - still familiar.   
He looked around, surveying the scene.   
Link slowly realised to his horror what he was seeing...  
"Farore..." he whispered. "This is Termina, isn't it?" But not the land he had known as a home for the last two years. This was a world racked by the most terrible fate.  
In this world, the moon had fallen down... Majora had finished the job.   
But how could that be? It was impossible! He'd struggled, he'd fought so hard, and he'd saved the day...   
_Even at the price of my own spirit... _he thought. 

But despite being impossible, there was no denying what he saw. 

He began to explore the ruins of the town, as the sun moved slowly through a sky blood-red with dust. Nothing remained of what had been a thriving civilization, not even rubble...  
"How... how could this happen?" Link continued to talk to himself, to dispel the absolute and eerie silence. "I mean... I couldn't have... no!"   
His wandering continued. Would he... could he... find a way back? There was no way he could spend an eternity here, no way he could survive in a ruined world...  
_But there is, isn't there? _whispered treacherous thoughts in the back of his mind. _You can survive... go back to how you were, and you can survive anything... Who you once were would revel in the chaos..._  
"Never!" Link yelled, into an empty and silent sky. "Don't think I'll ever go back! I'll never put the mask on again!"   
_Never is such a strong word... Perhaps this world is how it is, because twelve years ago you thought just that... you refused your fate, refused the powers inside, and couldn't destroy the demon..._

He looked up into the dust-seared heavens. Anything was better than looking at the ruined lands around him. A future of desolation? Was that what was left? Vividly, he visualised the Clock Town he knew. Busy, bustling... the clock on the tower ticking its way from past to future... Alena waiting for him - would she wait forever?... He closed his eyes, to block out the ruins. A wind began to whip around his feet - no, this wasn't the usual sort of wind, he was sure...  
Link opened his eyes again, to see a dead world fading... 

_-here-_

...and a live one reappearing. He shook his head and looked around him. Had he ever seen something so beautiful? Life, activity...  
But a land he could no longer be part of. 

"Link? What - what happened? You just... vanished! Where did you go?"  
He snapped round, to see amazement written in Alena's eyes. "I can't explain how, but - I was in another world. Another Termina. One where... I didn't stop the moon in time..."  
Her hand shot to her mouth. "For the love of... but that's impossible!"  
"That's what I thought. But - it's what happened. It was terrible..." Link whispered, eyes downcast. "How long was I gone for?"  
"Oh..." She looked up at the clock. "A few minutes."  
"It seemed longer... I'm sure I saw the sun set while I was there..."  
"You gave me a real shock, you know that? One minute you're there, the next - whoosh, you've gone." She smiled. "But you're back now, and that's what matters. What are we waiting for?"  
Link nodded, and pushed at the door. This time, it opened, to a maze of ancient waterwheels and rushing streams. For all that it had been a long time since he'd come through the strange, hidden domains between two worlds, Link still remembered the way perfectly. Or perhaps remembered wasn't quite the right word...  
He couldn't have put words to it, but there was another sense at work in his mind. One that knew exactly where Hyrule was, where Termina was, and how the two connected. Something he'd never experienced before, something he couldn't have imagined. He'd heard that some birds navigated using a compass in their minds. Perhaps this was how they felt, Link wondered... But how could this happen to him? What was this feeling? Some left over echo of disowned powers? _I spent ten years like that. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, if this is some relic of my fierce days... As I remember it, the Deity was never lost. But I'm no longer him, so why?_  
Through it all, Alena followed silently, overawed. Occasionally, she had to pinch herself to remind herself that she wasn't dreaming, that she was really leaving the world she'd known all her life. Yet, at the same time, she found herself beginning to enjoy the journey. There were things here she'd never imagined. _Heck, I'd never even known what was beyond the door in the tower. This is incredible... _

Eventually, after a long and tiring climb, they found themselves looking out into a deep, dark forest. Almost inaudibly, Link whispered "Home..."  
He turned round to see Alena's eyes open wide with surprise. He smiled. "Welcome to another world." 

- 

_"You let the boy get away! When you knew who he was! You could have destroyed him there and then!"_  
"Forgive me, master, for my weakness... but I couldn't help myself... I was just so angry that I completely forgot."  
_"I will forgive you this once. After all, you are only human. But he is not... and now he has escaped! There is nothing for it."_  
"Master... you don't mean to..."  
_"Yes. I do. I will find him myself - and then the one obstacle in my path will be removed... But first, we follow his footsteps." _

- 

A/N: Apologies to any "Red Dwarf" fans for the title - anyone else, it's an early episode of said show. And if you've decoded the 'ancient language' - well done. I wasn't showing off. I just thought it sounds cool. It's the only real language I'm gonna be using.   
As it is, I'm just glad to see ff.net up and running again... (hope that's not going to jinx things...)  



	4. Familiar Ground

Guardian of Time - Chapter 3

**Guardian of Time**  
Usual applies. I don't own the Zelda characters and games. I wish I did, but... So far, I can only claim Alena, and the two Kokiri.

**_Chapter 3 - Familiar Ground _ **

- 

The trees of the Lost Woods towered overhead, casting dappled shadows across the two travellers' path. Link smiled as he looked around. His real home... _Despite all I've done, this is where I belong. Perhaps now I can start to put things right._  
"What do you think so far?"  
"Give me time. It's all so new. I'm still having trouble taking this all in. This is Hyrule, now, isn't it? Not Termina?"  
"That's right. It should take us about - " he looked up at the sky, trying to see the sun - "oh, a couple of hours to get through the forest. We'll hit the plains by sunset, if we keep up a good pace." Link paused. "Alena - this is deadly important. Whatever happens - you've got to stick with me. I know my way here. You don't. The Kokiri always said that if you got lost in the forest, you'd be transformed into a monster."_ There's one case where that was true enough... _"I reckon that's just a rumour. But the forest is still very dangerous. So no matter what..."  
"Stay with you. Got it."   
They set off into the depths of the woods. Link glanced around him, trying to spot any sign of Skull Kid or the fairies, but they were nowhere to be seen. In fact, the forest was quiet. Too quiet, by half. Suspicious, he drew his sword. 

Suddenly, something moved in the undergrowth. He span around, to see what the noise was - but nothing was there.   
It was when he turned back that the trouble started...  
"What do I do?" Alena stood, knife in hand, facing up to what looked to be a snake - but no ordinary snake. This thing was almost a dragon. Link swallowed. He'd seen one of those only once, nine years ago. A Shadowyrm, he'd named it. It had been a tricky enough challenge even then, even for the Fierce Deity. _In other words, it had taken three attacks to destroy, when most monsters fell after only one, _Link mused. And now... There was no way that Alena, inexperienced at fighting, would be able to cope.   
"Get back, 'Lena! That thing's too much to handle! I'll take care of it!"  
She stood back, and watched as Link jumped into battle. 

It was simple enough to dodge the coils of the giant serpent, which lashed around the trees and spat venom angrily. However, it was another thing altogether to score an attack of his own... The scales of the creature were as tough as the best Goron-smithed steel, and every blow was deflected.   
The snake reared up, its head held high ready to strike. Link saw its belly for the first time - soft and defenceless.   
_...Yes! I've got it!..._   
He plunged his sword in towards its heart. If he could do that again, the 'wyrm would be destroyed, surely...  
The only problem was that the monster knew that too. It snapped angrily at him, and dived towards his unprotected legs. He felt the searing pain as it bit hard through the flesh... more painful than that sort of attack had any right to be. In a split-second, he realised. _Poison!_ How long did he have? _Damn it! I didn't come through all this to be killed by some stupid serpent!_ In a frenzy, he struck again, trying to ignore the fire that burned inside his blood.  
The Shadowyrm collapsed to the floor. Weakly, Link struggled free of its coils and walked unsteadily towards Alena.   
"What's the matter? You look like..."  
Link groaned. "It's poisonous. It bit me..."  
Alena clapped her hand to her mouth in shock. "No! It can't have... come on. Lean on me. I'll get you to safety." She looked him in the eyes. "You've protected me enough times. I think it's about time I returned the favour."  
"I'll be okay for now," he tried to smile back. "It's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me."   
"What was that, then?"  
"Do I have to choose?" Thankfully, Link rested an arm on Alena's back, and they set off towards the Kokiri village... or where the village had been, before the rage of the Deity had sent it crashing to the ground... 

It began to rain. At first, the trees provided shelter, but eventually the waterlogged leaves gave way and bullets of water splattered from their tips. The path through the forest slowly became sodden, as the pair made their way through the trees. Though Link hated to admit it, even to himself, he was finding it hard to move. His left leg, where the snake had bitten him, was swelling up - but he couldn't feel anything there. It could have been a block of wood, for all the good it did him. As they continued, the life slowly seeped away - as the red of blood seeped through the black of his leggings. 

"Head... left... agh!" His face contorted with pain, Link continued to bark out instructions, but weakly now. He limped along, legs and arms numb and his vision hazy, sliding in the mud as he went. It hurt Alena almost as much to see someone so strong taken down, struggling to move. "It's not... much further. Just..."  
She hoped it wasn't. The poisons had well and truly set in. Unless she could find help quickly... She tried not to think of what would happen. _You're a survivor. Please, survive this... for me... please..._

The way was barred. Two Kokiri stood in the path, blocking the only obvious route through the trunk of a hollow tree.   
"Hey! What're you doing here?" one of the forest children queried, before noticing... His guardian fairy glowed an angry yellow and buzzed around the injured Link's head. "You can't come through here, miss! Not with him! That guy ruined everything! He totally destroyed the village!"  
"Too right!" his companion yelled. "We're not letting Oni through here!"  
Alena was running short of temper with the Kokiri. And what were they talking about, anyway? "His name's not Oni, it's Link. And can't you see he's hurt? Some sort of a giant snake bit him. He needs to see a healer or someone, and quick! He's going to die if I don't!..." she half-yelled, her voice choked with emotion.   
The second Kokiri lifted her gaze from armour to face. "You say his name is..." Her fairy flew in for a closer look, and brushed aside the wet hair... "It is! It really is you! You've..."  
Link collapsed to the ground. The forest girl ran over to him, with a strange mixture of excitement and fear in her eyes. "Come on over here, Rafi! We've got to help get him to safety!"  
"Are you mad, Essa? Not after what he did... Are you really going to believe this grown-up -" the word becoming more of an insult than a mere description - "that this guy is really our old friend?"  
Alena's temper finally snapped. "Look. You two can stand around and bicker all you want. But I am taking _Link_ to safety. You can help me, or you can argue. It's your call." With that, she knelt down and arranged his arms around her neck. _Huh. Role reversal._  
Before she'd gone more than a couple of steps, she felt the load lessen. Alena glanced round. An expression of immense concentration on her face, Essa was lifting Link's legs out of the mud. "I'll help you. My silly brother won't believe me, but I'm sure you're telling the truth." She looked aside, sadly. "If this is Link, he needs our help. He used to be one of us, after all. But if this is just Oni... he deserves to see what has happened to us. Perhaps he'll feel something that he should have five years ago..."  
"What's that?"  
"Pity." 

- 

"He's gonna blow!" giggled a Kokiri girl, as Link sat up in bed retching. By all the goddesses, his head hurt. _But wait a minute - where am I?_ he thought. He looked around.  
To his surprise, it looked like the inside of a Kokiri 'treehouse', although perhaps a little larger than the usual rooms. Children stood around watching, some of whom he recognised as old friends, seemingly unsure whether to be excited or afraid. There were two bottles of the ever-useful blue potion sitting on a table by the bedside. The air was rich with the scent of something cooking. _Thank you! Thank you so much! You've saved me... after all I did... you've found it in your hearts to forgive me. I understand how Skull Kid felt, when the giants accepted him as a friend. Now I'm in the same situation..._ He blinked, feeling something prickling at his eyelids.  
Alena ducked through the low doorway. "You're awake!"  
"Y'..." He coughed, and started again. "Just about. Did you get me here?"  
"That's right. Well, with a little help, anyway. Turns out that they knew all about the big snakes in the forest, ever since..." She paused. Her voice cooled. "Link. Tell me this. Six years ago. Did you come back here - did the Fierce Deity come here, and..."  
He sighed. "Whatever the Kokiri told you is probably true."  
Alena sighed. "I knew it. I just didn't want to have to believe it." She looked into Link's eyes. "This doesn't change anything, you know. But still..."  
"But still. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. You've seen the destruction... and now you know how awful I really was."  
"Actually - no. I haven't seen anything. I just heard."  
"You haven't? Then where are we?"  
"This really huge old dead tree. They told me the name. Begins with a D."  
"... The _Deku Tree_?" Shocked, Link tried to get out of bed, but he still felt numb. "Owch. Looks like I'm not all together yet."  
"Oh. The poison's going to take a good few days, a week at least, to wear off."  
"Huh. So I'm stuck here, right?"  
"Right. But I'm right here, beside you. And there's someone else who is, too." Alena stepped aside.  
For two years, Link had tortured himself with a memory, an illusion. Had he really committed the crime which had haunted his nightmares? One death out of so many... they'd all run together. He no longer remembered who or what had actually suffered at his hands.  
But... it became clear that the worst of them all was nothing but imagination - a dream of the Deity - as Link saw the small figure step out from behind Alena.  
"It's good to see you again... even after all that's happened. Oh, Link... You're really back!"  
"It's good to see you too, Saria." He reached out to hold his old friend, tears coursing in both pairs of blue eyes. 

- 

"It's no good."  
_"What do you mean?"_  
"When the boy escaped through the clock tower portal, he managed to seal it behind him. I don't think he even knew he was doing it."  
_"He doesn't know who he is?"  
_"No, my lord. I don't believe he does."_  
"Fair enough. I will have to find him the hard way... Come here, my servant."  
An agony beyond imagining, two minds into one..._

-  
A/N: Unngh... Shades of Voldemort... If you've read HP & The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, you'll know what I mean... not to give too much away... And you didn't really think I'd kill off Saria, would I?  
Just one thing, tho'. I'm not going to be able to update this story next week, as I'll be away for a while. Come on - make my day and fill my inbox with reviews by the time I'm back...


	5. Home Is Where The Heart Is

Guardian of Time - Chapter 4

**Guardian of Time**  
Usual applies. I don't own the Zelda characters and games. I wish I did, but...  
Sorry 'bout the delay! 

_**Chapter 4 - Home is Where the Heart Is **_

- 

The days slowly passed. It was hard for Link, usually so active, to wait idly in bed. But with both his oldest and newest friends beside him, he had little to complain of.  
Except the past.  
He saw it too often in the expressions of the Kokiri around him. Too many of them were younger than he was - too many did not remember him as a friend. Too many only remembered the Fierce Deity's destruction of their home, forcing them to take refuge in the Lost Woods. He had lost count of the number of times he'd heard a forest child, or their fairy partner, refer to him as Oni rather than Link - and it hurt every time. But eventually, he regained enough strength to leave the quiet confines of the Deku Tree's chambers. With Saria and Alena by his side, he made up his mind. 

"I've got to see what has happened."  
"Why?"  
"I couldn't live with myself, knowing I couldn't face the past." 

Slowly, he walked through the village - or where a village had once stood. Now, it was nothing but waste. He saw Deku Scrubs sticking their heads up, and Babas snapped at him as he wandered past. Dragonflies buzzed overhead. Once, he was convinced he saw a Wolfos darting through the undergrowth. 

This was horrible.  
It was worse than what Ganondorf had done.   
Because he had done it himself. 

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. A tree lay across his path. He turned to walk around it - but something caught his eye. A figure engraved in the wood, under a covering of moss. He stooped down, to scrape the moss away - from the picture of a child fighting a dragon, that he had carved there himself.  
This was his old home, his first home. He dropped to his knees, and closed his eyes.  
_How could I... how could I...  
_A breeze began to blow, but Link didn't notice a thing. 

_-there-_

"What's up? What's the matter?"  
Who was that? Link looked around - and at his own face. An exact mirror image. But this Link was in Kokiri green, not blue and silver, and Navi fluttered by his head.   
"Who're you?" asked the surprised newcomer. Link opened his mouth, to reply to his duplicate, but suddenly realised that telling his real name would not be a smart move. He thought for a second - before working it out. He dared not say the _other_ name that had stuck with him - but there was one he could use. He'd been using it in another way longer than he'd used the other - for all that he hadn't realised it.  
"My name's Kaelon. Call me Kae."  
"Well, Kae, I'm Link." _I know._ "You know, we don't get many adult visitors here. Where're you from?"  
_Same place you are. Wherever that is. _He paused before replying. And again, the answer presented itself. It wasn't quite a lie... "You ever hear of a place called Termina?"  
"Termina... Of course! I was there as a kid." Navi whispered something. "Yes, that's right. That one. The one with the moon." The Link in green looked down, and offered his hand. "Come on. I'll show you around."  
It was then Link realised where he was once again, as he climbed to his feet. He was still in the forest - but a forest untouched by rage. This was the world he should have known, a seemingly peaceful parallel, not one where...  
"I was worse than Ganondorf," he mumbled. "At least he only brought monsters. He didn't destroy everything."  
The other Link looked round in surprise, catching the familiar name. "You say you're from Termina - but you knew about Ganondorf? Have you been here before?"  
"You could say that."  
Uncertainly, the two Links talked, although one hid behind anonymity. Slowly, it became clear. This was the timeline where Ganondorf had been vanquished. One where Link had spent seven years exploring far-distant lands - Termina was only the first, followed by an unfamiliar list of places. Where was "Koholint" anyway? Holodrum? Labrynna? After Majora had been defeated, he'd had a chance to reconsider his future - and realised that he couldn't stay. In this timeline, history had played out, the Hero of Time had slain the Evil King... and gone on to be remembered for his deeds.  
_So where does that leave me? _Link wondered. _Does that mean that the time where I live isn't real? Is it all just an illusion? What trick of the goddesses is this, that worlds can exist side-by-side, but completely unaware of each other?  
A trick of the deities..._

He stumbled.  
"Kae - something's up, isn't it? Is it something I said?"  
Link almost snapped back that that wasn't his name, but bit his tongue. He thought slowly. _Where did our pasts divide? It must have been in Termina, but when, exactly?..._ He had to know.  
"No - nothing's up." He paused. How to put this? "Um. When you visited Termina, did you pick up any masks? Ones with ...strange powers?"  
"How did you know about that? I didn't tell anyone!"  
"...A fairy once told me." That should be safe enough, he thought.  
"Tatl tattled, did she? Okay. There were three of them. A Zora, a Goron, and a Deku Scrub."  
"Just three? Are you sure?"  
"Well, there was the Giant's Mask in that temple. Do you mean that one? Or the Bunny Hood? The Mask of Truth?"  
"Ah. No." Again, an uneasy pause. He'd have to say the name. No way around it. "You never heard of ...something called the 'Fierce Deity's Mask', did you?"  
"Rings a bell. I remember now, I heard something off a Gossip Stone... but I never saw the thing."  
Link remained silent for a second. "Trust me. You didn't want to."  
"Why, Kae?"  
He closed his eyes. "I've told you a bit of a lie. Believe what I'm going to say if you want, or if it's easier just forget it. But my name's not Kaelon. It's Link. Same as you. I'm a version of you who found out what that mask did. And what it did was change you - me - into a warrior of darkness." He looked into his own features, almost afraid of the words that would come out of his mouth. But he knew the truth behind them, a truth he'd run from for two years but was having to face again... "I'm the Fierce Deity."  
On that acknowledgement, a wind blew out of nowhere... 

_-here-_

and left Link standing in the ruins of his homeland.  
There. He'd said it.  
_I'm the Fierce Deity. This is all my doing.  
I can't remain here. This is my home - but it can be my home no longer. Not after what I've done._

He slowly turned and headed back towards the Deku Tree. At least there was a sign of hope there - the tree had sprouted anew the day after he'd finished in the forest. Ironic, that. He'd returned to the forest at the same time in two different timelines.   
Once for its recreation.  
Once for its destruction. 

- 

The population of the forest stood in the meadow, under the great tree's shade, as a troubled Link poured his heart out in a speech of apology. He was aware of the gazes, the ones that said '_Sorry's not good enough. You can't undo what's happened with just words._' But sorry was all he could give them. He had not rehearsed what he was saying. It all came straight from his heart, the words that had lain unsaid for so long.   
Eventually, the speech stopped. "I've said all I can. And now I think it is best that I leave this place. You don't need me here anymore." He looked down. "Thank you for listening - and for understanding. If you can ever forgive me, then you do more than I deserve."  
For a second there was silence. Then, one of the Kokiri stood up and spoke. It was Mido. "It's okay. You'll always be our friend. And...look... well, I'm sorry for being such a jerk back then. Fair?"  
Link smiled - a genuine smile. "Fair enough. You really don't need to apologise."  
Saria spoke in turn. "I know you've got to go. So - I made this for you. It's a present. It's to replace the one you lost." She reached up and passed him a wooden ocarina, a near-duplicate of the first instrument he'd played except for the size. He looked back at her in gratitude. "Goodbye, Link. And remember - I'm always going to be here for you."  
"As will I." Link turned in surprise. Alena had sneaked up behind him, shadow-stealthy. "Don't think you're alone because of what you did when you were someone else. You've always got friends...You've always got me. One thing strikes me, though - where are we going to go now, if we're not staying here?"  
He noticed the 'we'. "I was hoping we could head for the ranch..." He paused. "I'm only hoping that Malon will see me as I see her... Family."   
He looked thoughtfully at the instrument in his hand. _It's been twelve years... will this still work? She could hear the song anywhere - but will she still respond to my call, if I try? _A little uncertainly, he lifted it to his lips, and let the soft notes of Epona's Song flow out. Now all he had to do was hope and wait. 

- 

Malon brushed the tall mare's coat, in a daydream. Suddenly, she began to buck and rear. "Easy, Epona... really..." The horse whinnied and galloped away from the care, unsaddled and untidy. Even though Malon hadn't heard it, Epona had - the summons so long unplayed. She turned and galloped at top speed towards her master's melody. 

- 

The forest children and respective fairies scattered as the horse galloped towards them. Link happily patted the steed. "Good girl. You remembered." She snorted, as Link turned towards Alena. "You ever ridden before?"  
"Not since we moved to Clock Town, and that was eight years ago, when Mum left... I'm a bit rusty, I'm afraid."  
"Well, here's your chance to relearn. Come on. Just stand on my hands and I'll give you a leg-up." Alena scrambled onto Epona's back, with Link vaulting on after her. He turned around, and waved at the surprised Kokiri. "Goodbye!"   
Everyone moved aside, as Epona plunged onwards and out of the forest. 

- 

_-there-_

"_At last! I've found you..._"  
"Have I seen you before?"  
"_Oh. You have. And now, prepare to meet your fate, fierce one..._"  
Navi, an angry yellow, flew straight towards the cloaked intruder. Link backed away slightly, drawing the Master Sword and grabbing the shield from his back.. "Fierce? What do you mean by that?"  
"_Don't play dumb. Your name is Link, right? You were the Fierce Deity..._"  
"What? Oh... I get it. You've got me confused with someone else! There was a guy here just now saying he was a different version of me. He used the same words you did - but then he vanished."  
"_Impossible!_" Furious, the intruder fired a volley of energy balls at the hero, who blocked them easily. As they rebounded, the cloaked figure vanished...  
_So the Guardian eludes my grasp?..._  


_-here-_

- 

A/N: I know I mention the placenames from the Game Boy series here - IMHO, the Oracle games rock! I'd give them 96% per game, and the last 4%'s for the linked games. However, I am _not_ implying that the Oracle or Awakening Link is the same as the one from the N64 adventures. He could have passed through anyhow. Personally, I don't think he is...   
Look at Impa (in OOS or OOA), for example. She's older, but Link looks younger, as does Zelda. I'm not even going to mention the dumb haircut, and the umpteen other inconsistencies. Meaning, different Link. Okay. I'll shut up now. _Please _R&R and make me the happiest author alive.

On that note, I've got to give a big thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far. It's knowing that you guys are behind me makes it worth it. And I'm not just being mushy here. I mean it. . 


	6. Memory

Guardian of Time - Chapter 5

**Guardian of Time**  
The Zelda games and characters are owned by Nintendo, but Alena and Cam are mine.  
My thanks to everyone who's reviewed the story so far: to JadeAngel86, Kylo, Kahlan and Wulfpaw.  


**_Chapter 5 - Memory _ **

**-**

"Malon - I've got bad news!" Cam yelled as he ran into the ranch house. Two years ago, he'd taken refuge there, one of precious few to escape an attack by the Fierce Deity. From what he'd heard, the queen's so-called military advisor - but he knew differently, he knew who was running the country behind the scenes - had vanished off the battlefield during the Gerudo wars. Cam was sure that was wrong. How could someone like that just disappear? He couldn't imagine him running away, or being killed in battle...  
And now his worst fears had come true. He pushed the door shut and collapsed onto a chair.  
"What is it?"  
"_He's_ come back, Malon. You know who I mean. I saw him heading this way, riding - well, it looked like old Epona. Probably explains why she galloped off like that. I'm sure the queen was sitting behind him. I don't have a clue what's happened - but if he's back... well..."  
"We're all in trouble."  
"Oh, come on! You'll be okay, you know that! They need the ranch to stay open to keep the castle running. But as for myself - well, I'm a deserter, aren't I? I'll be the first to go..."  
"If you're that worried, Cam, go hide under the bed. I'll tell him you've gone if he asks. For once, I'm glad Dad's away... He'd go crazy if he knew." Malon tried to speak assertively, but she knew it was a sham. She was as afraid of the person who had once been her best friend as anyone else. The person who had - as far as she knew - killed her adopted brother and broken her heart.  
What made it even more tragic was that the killer and victim were one and the same person, as the boy she had known as 'Kaelon' had revealed himself to be Link's spirit reborn without his memory - but the Fierce Deity was Link's memory without his spirit.  
_I wonder if he knows..._

- 

"Well, this is it, 'Lena! Lon Lon Ranch. I know it's not as big as Romani's, but..." But he'd spent ten years of his life here - or was it ten years of someone else's life? Link couldn't decide. He remembered every detail of his 'second childhood', as he thought of it - but he remembered just as much about his other existence. There were two sets of memories in his head - and he couldn't decide which were his.  
"But nothing. It's a nice place. Um. Link - how do I get down off here?"  
He laughed quietly, remembering his first times on a horse. At least Ingo wasn't here any more to sneer. He'd taunted both the 17-year-old Link and four-year-old Kaelon during their - during his - first attempts at riding, and he'd been glad to see him leave. "Easy. Lean forwards and swing your right leg over her rear, then slide down." Clumsily, Alena pulled Link down with her as she dismounted Epona. They landed on the dusty ground together. "Well... that's one way of doing it, I guess! Just don't knock me off at the same time, next time..." He brushed off the dirt and helped Alena to her feet, before patting Epona on the neck and wandering across to the ranch house. He knocked gently on the door. 

- 

A knock came at the door, sharp and assertive. Malon sighed, and paced up and down. "Okay. He's here. Get a grip on yourself..."  
She pulled it open - and gazed on her past.  
Something was wrong here, as she looked him up and down. Yes, he was in his typical blue and black with the heavy armour; but she was sure he'd been taller! He'd never bothered with buckling on a sword sheath, neither, but a navy leather strap crossed his chest now.   
Malon forced herself to look at his face. Unmarked, softened, hidden behind blond not white hair, with brilliant sapphire eyes shining out rather than the cold diamonds of the demigod's gaze.   
With a jolt, she began to realise just who it was she was seeing. This was her friend the way he should have been - his true face, not some sort of a mask. The pure, strong hero, with the darkness inside gone.  
"...Link? That's you, isn't it?"   
He nodded. "It's really me..." Link choked over the next word. But it was how he still saw Malon, and he had to say it. She had to know. "...Sis."  
Her eyes flew wide open. "You... you called me... you remember being... K...Kae...?" A hand flew to her mouth in the shock. "But how... that's impossible..."  
_Impossible. Nothing's impossible. _"That's right. I remember being Kaelon. But, at the same time, I remember being the Fierce Deity. I was both of them, and I'm still both of them. But, think about it. They were both me. Link." He looked straight at Malon. "I'm back. Make of me what you will..."  
She closed her eyes, and threw her arms around him. "I don't know how you got to be your old self again, but... I'm so glad you're back..." she smiled. Malon let go. "One thing, though - Cam said that you had the queen with you. Is she here?"  
Link was confused for a second, before remembering. "Oh. He must have seen Alena here. My girlfriend - " he gestured to the waiting figure.  
Malon thought for a moment - _but that is her! _- but she wasn't going to doubt what Link said. "It's nice to meet you."  
"The same here." As the two of them talked, hitting it off easily, Link walked inside. Nothing had changed. It felt like it had no right not to have, after so long. Even though it was only two years since he'd been there, it was an entirely different lifetime... It was all so familiar. At last, he felt like he'd found somewhere he could call 'home' and no-one would argue. He wandered upstairs, to where his old room had been, and pushed the door open.  
There was someone there, hidden in a corner, trying not to make a sound.   
"Who's there?" he called. "I know you're in here! I can see you..." He walked over, reaching round to his sword out of a cautious reflex. 

Cam saw the silhouette in the doorway. _He's come back... dear goddesses, he's come back for me... _He tried not to move, but he could see the figure approaching, calling for him to show himself. _Probably thinks I'm a weakling, who's gonna surrender easily. Fat chance. He's going to have to catch me first..._   
It was now or never. He rolled out from his hiding place, and ran straight past a very surprised Link. "Hey! Come back here! I only want to talk!" He turned on his heels and headed off after the ex-guard. 

- 

"Well, I used to live up in the mountains with my parents, but after my mother left..."  
"She what?" Alena and Malon talked happily. Although both had to get over their initial confusion at seeing someone else speaking with a voice they'd associated with another person, in the end the barriers broke down.   
"It's a long story. I'll tell you another day. Anyway, we moved down to Clock Town after that, when I was fifteen. How about you?"  
"I've lived here on the ranch all my life. It used to be just me and Dad, until - well, Link must have told you."  
"What do you mean, just you and dad? What happened to your mother?"  
Malon blinked. "I never knew her. Dad said that she was killed in the war, when I was just a baby... Whoa! Cam! Where are you going in such a hurry?" She grabbed his arm as he ran past.  
"Let me go! He's after me! Come on!" Both women looked round towards Link on the stairs. At the same time, they realised what had happened. Although Malon had adjusted to Link's new identity, and Alena had never really known the Deity - no-one had told the terrified Cam. Twenty-seven years old, and he was still panicking like a child, at the sight of an imagined executioner.  
"Calm down. He's not after you... He's someone else, now!"  
"Looks like Oni to me!" Link flinched on hearing the name. He still wasn't used to it again, for all that he had used it so long.  
"Have you even looked at him? For the love of Nayru... that's not the Fierce Deity! That's just Link."  
"Same different, isn't it?"  
"Look here. If that was who you think, would you still be here and alive?"  
Cam relaxed slightly, although he was still stretched tighter than a bowstring, and focused on the armoured figure. His eyes could see the differences easily, but his brain was having trouble accepting what they told it. No, that was no avenging deity - he was little more than a boy, he saw now, despite what he wore. _And you were so afraid of this guy?_ He calmed down measurably, as dislike and anger replaced fear. _He might be only human now - but he still tried to kill me. There's no way I'm going to make up with him so easily._

- 

Dinner in the ranch house was a subdued affair, even if twice the normal number of people were eating. Cam spent half of the meal glaring unpleasantly at Link - even after losing the armour and sword, he still couldn't see anyone there other than the person who tried to kill him and forced him to go on the run. For Link's own part, he didn't think that the angry expression fit easily with those brilliant red eyes. From what he remembered, the guard had been an easygoing person while at the castle - part of the reason he was in trouble in the first case - and his counterpart across in Termina had been the same. To see him so bitter...  
"Go on," Cam muttered, sarcastically. "There's a knife there."  
Link couldn't stand any more. "For the last time, I'm not who you remember! Stop taking me for who I was."  
"Keaton can't change its tails. And you can't change your stripes. Just hide them."  
He snapped. "Come on!" He reached into a pocket, and slammed the mask down onto the table. "That's all that's left of who you think I am. See it?"  
"Yes. But I don't see your point."  
"This is my point!" With one movement, he scooped the Fierce Deity's mask off the table again, and threw it into the fire. "It's gone, right?" Everyone span round to see, as the impact scattered ashes across the hearth. 

Flames flickered around the painted wood. At last, now it would be destroyed, surely...  
Nothing happened. The paint didn't even blister.   
Malon turned back to the table. It would probably take a while for it to... She stopped. "Link? What's the matter?" He lay with his head on the table, holding his hands to his face. "Come on, what's wrong?" He could only manage a groan. Carefully, Malon prised Link's hands away, and gasped. "Oh... my... goddesses... Alena! Come look at this!" 

Link's hands and face were burnt, red and raw. Even as they watched, the injuries got worse.   
_What's going on here,_ they both wondered...  
Alena's hand snapped to her mouth. "It's the mask! Got to be!" She grabbed a jug of water, and chucked it onto the fire. At the same time that it hissed out, she heard a sigh of relief. The burns seemed to fade on their own.   
Slowly, Link sat up. "What happened? I chucked the mask on the fire, next thing..." He paused as he made the connection. "I tried to burn the mask, but burnt myself, instead? Is that it?"  
Alena nodded. "That's what it seemed like."  
"But that... I can't get rid of it... destroy it, and I'd destroy myself? No! It can't be!" He refused to accept the connection that was implied.  
Cam joined in the conversation maliciously. "Got that right! Say, I could do this..." he grinned spitefully, stabbing the mask in the eye. Immediately, Link responded by clapping his hand to his own in agony. Angry, Malon stepped in and yanked the mask away from them. "Call yourself an adult? That was something a little kid would do! No. I've known little kids who wouldn't stoop to that. I think _this_ had better come out of harm's way, in case some of us decide to have any sort of little _game_ with it... Say, Link - are you alright? Can you see okay?"  
He nodded. "I'm fine now. I'm just wondering... do we know anyone who'd know anything about this sort of thing?"  
"There's that crazy old lady in the Kakariko potion shop, she knows a bit about magic - then there's always that man from the mask shop in town, he oughta know something..."  
"No. I'd rather not get involved with _him_ again." _Especially since it's almost his fault in the first place. If he hadn't sent me after Majora as a kid, then I wouldn't've..._  
"Well... the only other place that would know anything is at the castle itself, but that's no good. I don't think they'd want us putting our noses in." Malon caught a glint in Link's eye. "You've got an idea, haven't you..."  
"I don't like doing this, but..." He paused. "I need... let's see... a bag of flour or something. Malon - have you still got those paints I - well, Kaelon, you know - used to have? A red and a blue?"  
Malon paused, before catching on. "Link... you're not going to..."  
"You've guessed."  
"I don't think the guards are going to fall for it."  
"They'll see what they think they're seeing." He glanced round. "And, 'Lena... did you bring... anything of your mother's with you? It's just an idea, but... " 

- 

_-there-_  
"What are you doing to my brother?" Malon yelled at the intruder. Long ornate robes covered his features.  
_"Oh, I'm not doing anything to him. I was just asking the boy his name..."_  
"It's Kaelon. And I don't know what you want with him."  
_"I don't want anything with this pathetic child now I know that... Tell me. You couldn't send me in the direction of one called Link, could you..."_  
"How did you... only I know..." She paused. "If you're looking for... _him_... you'll find him at the castle..." 

-  
A/N: THMF old hands will know that Cam's parallel in Termina is, in fact, Kafei - just to clear that up. If you haven't read the prequel, I hope I'm not confusing you too much.   
And another thing... How the hell have I managed to write 2.5K words on this chapter, whe I normally seize up at the 1.7K mark? Wonders never cease... Hope it doesn't mean I'm waffling... I'll shut up now... OK... please review... 


	7. In Castle Walls

**Guardian of Time**  
Usual applies. You know who I own. Anyone else belongs to the Big N. 

**_Chapter 6 - In Castle Walls_ **

-- 

-here- 

"And then, I says, I says to this guy... Huh? Danno, have you got boulders in your head as well as your stomach? Are you even listening to me?" The guards on the gate chatted away carelessly. No-one would trouble them, they knew. For a start, there was nothing to trouble them over. The queen had made a point of regular appearances and audiences with the Hylian townsfolk ever since she'd been free of possible retribution via helix-bladed sword. And for another...  
"Yeah, Coll. I'm listening. You's just boring the rocks off me."  
For another, one of the guards was the castle's first Goron employee. Darunia's little brother - which had always made him the butt of jokes - he had set out for town looking for something he could do where he didn't feel literally like Big Brother was watching him. His presence on the gate seemed to terrify any potential intruders - even though he was naturally gentle, his idea of gentle as applied to organic races' physiology often left them with a broken bone or two. Word had gotten round...   
But someone obviously hadn't heard, and was heading up the path towards the castle with a confidence that suggested that no-one would stand in his way.  
"Hey... Look over there. Does that guy look a bit familiar to you? Could almost be old..."  
"Aw, hell, Danno! That's him! See?"  
"Thought he was dead."  
"Thought wrong. Her highness is gonna freak out. Oh, man... what're we gonna do..."  
"Pull your chain mail straight?"  
"Easy for you to say. You haven't got any." 

- 

Link trotted Epona up the path towards Hyrule Castle. So far, his disguise was holding. No-one had even looked too closely - for all they knew, he could be the figure of their fear down to the ground, and they'd found it best not to stare.  
Damn it, this felt wrong. Taking off a mask to effectively put it on again. He couldn't believe what he was doing... but really, he had to find out what was happening to him. Not just the mask problem, but those strange shifts in time he'd experienced too. The castle library would hold the answers, no doubt.   
And besides... there were things left there he really wanted to reclaim as his own. Oni's treasures then, and Link's possessions now. Spoils of war, mostly, but some of them precious beyond compare, so much so that he was about to go behind his own back to retrieve them. One thing in particular had to be retrieved... He hadn't mentioned them to Alena or Malon. He hadn't wanted to seem selfish - or too much like his old self.  
He picked something out of a pocket. _Thanks, 'Lena_, he thought, before clasping a fine silver wire around his neck. Immediately, the blue colour faded from his eyes. He hadn't wanted to use it so far, but coming up to the castle he thought it might be wise to complete the illusion.  
_Okay, Sheik. I understand how you did it now. Just a simple bit of magic, really...  
_Alena had been a bit shy about acknowledging that she knew how her mother had disguised herself for so long, but she'd revealed the truth in the end. It turned out the key to the whole thing was the pendant that Alena had brought with her. A 'Shadow's Pearl', she'd called it. A rare stone, precious to the Sheikah, that under the power of a magic-bearing mind could produce simple illusions - say, changing red eyes brown, and blue eyes to red... or white. Unable to use it herself, she had given it to Link readily. It had taken some trial and error to make it do anything, but now things were working perfectly.  
He tucked the pearl out of sight and concentrated on carrying himself as he would have when he was someone else. 

- 

The queen of Hyrule walked through the corridors, pensive. Things had reached a critical stage in the negotiations with the Gerudo ambassador. Perhaps now, two years after a war started by one man's bloodlust and longing for revenge, there was a chance at peace... 

Zelda stopped in her tracks, as she saw the armoured figure step around the corner. No - how could it be? She'd thought he'd vanished. The troops had all reported that he'd disappeared from the battlefield. Some had thought him dead, but they'd never found the body... some, totally unbelieved, claimed they'd seen a boy fleeing the battlefield wearing his armour - but how could he have been destroyed?  
As it turned out, he hadn't.  
_And things were going so well, _she thought... 

She walked up to him and tried to speak calmly, remembering just in time not to use the name that he had borne as a child.   
"I see you've returned, Oni."  
He flinched and turned round, surprise written in his expression. He suddenly seemed to remember himself, and removed something from around his neck. Instantly, his eyes began to shine a brilliant blue... blue?  
With a jolt, Zelda realised. This wasn't... this was...  
"My name is Link, your highness. It always was."  
"Time was, you'd have killed me for saying that to you. So. Why have you come back, then?"  
Link dropped to one knee, respectfully. With his eyes closed, it was hard for Zelda to decide what she was seeing. "I am here only to apologise for the terrible things I did to you, when I was truly who you thought I was. I swear that if there is any way I can make up any tiny fraction of the damage I have done, to you and your country... I will serve you as long as I am able, if you will accept me into your service again..."  
Zelda turned around. "I understand what you are saying. My mind can accept it, and has already forgiven you. But I am afraid my heart may never. Please. O... I mean, Link - leave me here. Leave me to my thoughts. If there are any other things you have to do while you are here, do so. But now - I am afraid that I cannot talk to you..." She walked away, quietly. "One day, perhaps you will return and I will embrace you as the hero I know you are. But, for now..."  
"I understand, your highness," Link whispered. "I understand."  
_As far as anyone here's concerned, even Zelda - I'm still the Fierce Deity._ _I think I'd better give them what they expect._ He clipped the amulet back around his neck, and his eyes started to blaze white from within. _  
But it feels wrong... so wrong..._  
Or did it? Or did it feel... deep in his heart, where he dared not go... _right?  
People see me as Fierce Link, not just Link... so who am I, then?..._

- 

The library had been unenlightening. The closest thing had been an obscure passage, almost unreadable...  
"The link between past and future will never lose the face he once bore, as he and it are one..."  
That had not been the sort of thing that Link had wanted to read. He had left shortly afterwards, and headed towards the castle towers. Eventually, he paused outside one room in the castle's far reaches.   
The door creaked open, and Link found himself in his old chambers - or at least, Fierce Link's, Oni's. Dust covered every surface. It was clear nothing had been touched. _Perhaps they had been too frightened_, he thought...  
These rooms had been his for his six-year residency at the castle. He couldn't really call it a 'bedroom' as the Fierce Deity had never needed to sleep as other men did - the closest thing to a bed was a chair pushed up against a wall. Instead, the setting reflected its owner's personality...  
Arranged over almost every available surface were trophies of many a battle. Probably the majority had been gained during his explorations of Hyrule's far reaches - most of it weaponry that the Fierce Deity had taken from its fallen owner. A map hung on a wall displayed features of the country that not many people realised existed - the simple reason being that not many cartographers had been out that far and returned to tell the tale. Crosses on the map marked his so-called victories, scenes of bloodshed and destruction.   
This place, if anywhere, brought memories of his fierce days back to Link. Part of him was sickened by what he saw... but not all... 

He looked around. Yes - there was the ebony-and-silver longbow, a prize from a duke's tournament. He slung it over his back. Next to where the bow had hung sat a long dagger, its blade one pure piece of perfectly sharp volcanic diamond. _It's probably unique_, Link mused, and reached out to pick it up watching his own reflection in the shining crystal. _You're lucky to have found something like this, Oni'kara..._  
Link swore, and jumped back in shock and surprise.   
He hadn't used that name in two years. He hadn't heard it either. Most people he knew had just shortened it to Oni - and indeed still did - but Link knew where it came from. He'd chosen the name himself, after all, when he could not stand the last literal 'link' to his past...  
_Why did I just call myself... Am I forgetting who I am? Or am I remembering?_  
He sheathed the dagger by his side, and moved on. The next item seemed a little out of place, having nothing as it did with combat. It was a small, ornate wooden harp, similar to the one 'Sheik' had played. Link idly strummed at its strings, eventually picking out the flowing notes of the Song of Soaring... 

_-there-_

A wind whipped Link off his feet and left him... How had he gotten here? The ruins of the castle, where he had fought Ganondorf the first time - twelve years ago by his timescale, but only five to anyone else. 

This wasn't the world he lived in.  
This was the world of the past, of the seven sages and... 

Link became aware that he was being watched. He span round...  
"It's good to see you again!"  
For a second, he paused, speechless. "Sheik? Zelda?!" Not the frightened queen he'd met, hardly minutes ago - the proud Sage of Wisdom, even in disguise.  
"Of course."  
"But why are you still dressed like that? Ganondorf's gone. There's no danger to hide from, anymore."  
"I could easily ask you the same question, fierce one."  
Link looked at himself, remembering. The armour, the clothing, the warpaint... of course, to an observer he would still be... and he knew perfectly well that the seven sages knew about the Fierce Deity. "Oh. Yes. But despite this, I'm not... I mean, I don't feel like..." _Or do I? I just used the name without knowing, so am I still, on some level..._

Sheik walked up to Link. "It is hard to take the form of another, without becoming that person. You and I both know that. We've both hidden behind masks, one way or another...  
"Masks are only tools, a means to an end and not the end itself. Perhaps all they can ever do is bring out the face underneath, the face in your mind that only comes out in darkness..."  
"You're speaking in riddles. I don't understand."  
"One day, soon, you will. There are things afoot, both here, and the world that you have been calling home. Link! Understand this, even if you can't understand what I said before. Destiny has still not finished playing its games with you. You are not just the hero of time... You are its guardian."_  
_The last words were hidden in an ethereal gale, as Link found himself blown back to the world he knew... 

_-here-_

He landed, shaken. What did that mean? The 'guardian of time'? Even if being thrown between worlds wasn't enough, now he had some mysterious title landed on him, too?   
But Sheik's words had reminded him just why he was there. Stowing away the harp, Link pulled open a drawer and removed a long, slender box. He blinked, and flipped it open. Inside lay a faithful friend, but one ruined. If he'd never laid hands on it, Link thought, he would never have known what destiny meant... If it had never been broken, his past twelve years would have been so different - he'd even seen how he would be... he'd have fought his battles as himself, never been forced to take on the mantle of a dark warrior...  
He closed his eyes, and snapped the lid shut on the broken remains of the Master Sword. 

Link headed out of the castle. The sky did look dark, threatening - there must be a storm brewing, surely! No sooner had he thought the words, than giant fat raindrops began to smack into the ground. The sword's box tucked under one arm, he ran to reach Epona and leapt onto her back. They pounded through the market and across the drawbridge.  
In a storm like this, he had to get to shelter quickly, he knew. Link spurred Epona into the fastest gallop she could manage. Lightning flashed, and the mare spooked, slipping in the mud. Link was thrown to the ground, and into unconsciousness... 

- 

"Whrrr... Where am I?"  
"You're home, Link." He blinked, and looked straight up into Alena's eyes. "When Epona came back without you, I rode out here to find you."  
"_You_ rode out?"  
"Sure! Nothing to it. It's just getting down I don't like." She laughed gently as she looked at him. "You know... the fierce look suits you..."  
"What?!" Link sat up in bed, and raised one hand to his throat. The shadowpearl amulet still hung there. "That's it! I am done with this thing... You have it back, 'Lena!"  
"No rush..." But Link had already unclipped the stone and passed it over to her. She paused as he blinked. Something was wrong. _Very _wrong. "Um... Link?"  
"What is it?"  
"How do I put this... your eyes haven't changed back."  
"_What?!_" He looked around, wildly. There was a mirror on one wall of his room, and seeing his own reflection gave him a shock. That wasn't his face - with the warpaint still there, he looked even to his own eyes to be his Fierce persona. "Sweet Nayru! This is not happening!" He shut his eyes and tried to focus. _Blue... they're meant to be blue... _He opened them again. They hadn't changed. "What's going on... Why. Haven't. They." His words petered out as a sickening sensation drifted over him. The same feeling as when he'd realised he couldn't destroy the mask without killing himself... He whispered quietly to himself. "_The link between past and future will never lose the face he once bore, as he and it are one... _Don't say... don't say..."  
"What do you mean..."  
"I'm never going to be able to say that Fierce Link is no more. Because that's me..."  
"No, you're not. Wash that paint off and you're not going to be any more the Deity than I am. The colour of your eyes isn't the question. I mean, I'm half-Sheikah, I should have red eyes by rights, but I don't. Cam and Kafei haven't got anything to do with the shadow people - well, they never said they did, I'm not sure... It doesn't matter!" She caught a strange expression on his face, amplified by the red-and-blue streaks. "But. Here - have this for good, Link. You'll make better use of it than I could." 

-- 

A/N: This chapter's given me so much gyp, my hair's turning white with stress... hehehe. No, seriously. It's not that I've had a writer's block, it's just that the damn' thing must have gone through about 10 rewrites... 

I'll just straighten this out now, if I've been confusing you. _-here-_ and _-there-_ indicates Link's shifting between different timelines.  



	8. Revelations

Guardian of Time - Chapter 7

**Guardian of Time**  
Usual applies. You know who I own. Anyone else belongs to the Big N.

**_Chapter 7 - Revelations_ **

- 

Days went by quickly, and springtime turned to summer on Lon Lon Ranch. A lot of changes had been made, even over the short time since Link returned from the castle. Both Link and Alena had settled in happily, and the sceptical Cam had stopped hating Link for what he had done. It was easy for him to hide the scars of his past, to camouflage his strange eyes - the sign of the deity's spirit somewhere within - and just as easy for those around him to pretend that nothing had happened now. As time's flow passed gently, even the memories of Link's fierce days were beginning to be eroded by the current...   
It was the flow of time that bothered Link, as he sat in the shade of the old apple tree idly playing the harp and ocarina. He still hadn't found out the reasons why he'd been leaping between timelines - and the jumps hadn't stopped after his encounter with 'Sheik' in the ruined castle. They hadn't even stopped when he'd had the Master Sword repaired and replaced in the temple - and he'd been sure that would be the key, when it had led him between times so long ago. He could only guess that the cryptic phrase the sage had used - "you are not just the hero of time; you are its guardian..." - was somehow relevant. But how? He hated not knowing the answer, and not knowing what would happen to him next...  
A wind began to blow. The sky flickered.   
Link recognised the signs.  
_Aw, Din... not again..._

_-there-_

He looked around, trying to acquaint himself with where he was. The ranch, of course - even if he moved between worlds, he still found himself in the same place in any world he visited. The more appropriate question was - when? His question was soon answered.  
"Hey! Who're you?" a young boy's voice yelled from the branches above him. Link glanced up - and was surprised to see what looked like a twelve-year-old version of himself sitting in the tree, a wooden flute on a long string looped around his neck. He had never been twelve years old, not as most people understood the term... "'Scuse me, but Sis gets annoyed if strangers turn up on the ranch."  
"I'm sorry. I got lost." After about the fifth time, he'd gotten used to making up excuses. Suddenly, it struck Link what timeline this had to be. "What's your name, then?"  
"Kaelon."  
"Thought as much... Mine's Link."  
"What? You mean, like the Fierce..."  
"...Deity. That's right. But I don't think he'd be too happy if he heard you calling him that." _I wasn't. So... in this world, I've never found out who I am... _He dimly became aware of Kaelon chattering on.  
"I shouldn't really be talking about, uh, you-know-who. Sis gets mad if I mention him. You won't tell her, will you?"  
"No. No - go ahead. Say what you want..."   
"'S okay. Nothing to say. Except... do you know if dreams mean anything? In the real world? Only, 'cause I've had these really weird dreams. I didn't want to tell Sis, but he was in them..." Kaelon gave Link a stare. "You were, too! I remember! I've seen you before - you were arguing with him, he said something like you couldn't escape him, you said that you could try... and then you looked at me and said I had to remember... Sorry, I'm talking nonsense."  
"Don't worry... You're young. You're allowed to."  
"I'm not so young! I'm nearly thirteen... Hey, what's up?"  
Link muttered under his breath. "Enjoy it while you can, Kae. I never did. Not as you're going to." 

_-here-_

He got up and brushed himself off, heading for the barn - and something to do to keep his mind off things. But the things in question weren't going to keep off his mind so easily.  
_In that world, Kaelon's nearly thirteen.  
At thirteen, the Deity stopped... I stopped being myself. There was no 'Link' anymore, just the Fierce Deity.  
I never had the chance he's going to have.  
I envy the kid._

He toyed with the Sheikah stone around his neck. The one thing that had stopped the boy seeing him for who he was - the figure that had so terrified his sister that she couldn't even bear to hear his name anymore... 

- 

That night, he dreamed. 

_...He gallops through the darkness of the night, a wild storm whipping at his horse's white mane as well as his own... The drawbridge gives way before him, and he charges onwards... His burning white eyes pick out a solitary figure standing by the moat's side, their face a mask of fear - fear of a mask?... It's... him?... As a child, the child he should have been but never was... He calls out. "Who am I? Who are you?"..._

He woke up with a bolt and looked around, aware of a faint glow illuminating the darkness. With a lurch inside, he realised that it was his own white eyes giving off the light. Silently, he blinked, and looked at Alena sleeping. He envied her her peace of mind - at least she could be certain who she was. 

- 

"Link - something's up, isn't it?" Alena asked, as they walked down to breakfast. "You haven't been yourself since two days ago. I saw you... well, go... - did something happen when you were away?"  
"Mmm."  
"That's not an answer. It's a syllable. It's not just that, neither - I heard you talking in your sleep again."  
"I was what?" Link burst out in surprise.  
"Talking in your sleep. You were saying something like 'Don't call me Link, call me...' I can't remember what you said. Oni-something."  
"Oni'kara."  
"That's it. Is there a problem?" 

Link paused for a second on the stairs, whispering to himself and seeming to ignore Alena's insistent questioning. He turned around to her. "Alena. What did you do on your thirteenth birthday? Can you remember?"  
She seemed surprised. "What's that got to do with...?"  
"Please?"  
"My birthday... oh, yeah," she laughed. "That's it. We went for a picnic up Snowhead way. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! Mum made a total idiot of herself - " Link tried to picture the staid Impa embarassing herself, and failed - "she thought it would be a really good idea to give these little Wolfos cubs some titbits. Well, they were totally cute. But - you know what Wolfos are like if you touch their tails. And Mum did just that when she fed them. It wasn't funny then, she got really badly scratched up, even from those little babies - but we had a real laugh about it after. It's one of those things, isn't it... Why d'you ask?" 

Link began to speak in a hollow voice. "On my thirteenth birthday, I came across a village in the woods. I say woods - it was this really thick forest to the south of Lake Hylia, but you don't want to know that. Well, this place was the prettiest thing you've ever seen. There was a handful of houses, a stable, that sort of thing. A bit like your old home, really, just in the woods not the mountains. It would have made a lovely pictograph, but I wasn't there for sightseeing. 

"I destroyed it all. It took no more than a swing of the sword to bring each pretty little house crashing to the ground. People were running, screaming... it was absolute chaos I didn't really pay any attention then, but it turned out it was a Sheikah place. Ironic, that... could have been the last in Hyrule, but I wouldn't have cared. I don't have a clue how many survived. Could have been the whole village - could have been just three or four... It didn't matter then, but every time I think of it now it tears me up inside to think I could have... could have..."  
Alena put a hand gently on Link's shoulder. "If it hurts you so much - you don't have to go on. I understand perfectly."  
He shook his head. "No. I've got to finish, now I've started telling you..." He sighed. "So I moved on. But later that day, I found someone - one of the survivors - alone in the woods. I could hear her sobbing. I'd never heard the language before, but as I was, I could understand every word.  
'Rai'sus nos oni'kara'. 'Save me from the chaos'...  
That's where my other name, one I chose myself, the one I've been calling myself in my sleep, came from. Oni'kara. Or, for short, just Oni. _Chaos_. I don't know why, but the name just stuck, and I used it until the day I returned to how I am now. A pretty good description of who I was, I'd say... While you were just a kid, laughing with your mum at some stupid things, I was a full-grown man - a demigod, even - and I thought as such. But now... what I wouldn't do to have the chance to be that little kid... If only I could turn back the clock, one more time... If only... Just one chance... When I was... away... I saw the boy I never was... but I only wish I had been..." He sat heavily on the steps and hid his face in his hands, a grown man crying the tears of a child who never had a chance to grow up... "Perhaps Link died that day, ten years ago, when I refused to bear that title... perhaps I should just give it up and go by my other name again..." 

"Link. Oni'kara. Call yourself anything you like, Oni Link even, if you're that worried about it. Whoever you are, whatever you call yourself - the past is done. Even you can't change it. It's time to move on..."  
He blinked the last traces of tears out of blue eyes. "Thanks, 'Lena. You always seem to say the right thing. But I think I'm going to stick with plain old 'Link' for the time being..." He paused, suddenly aware that he was very hungry and the smell of food was coming straight at him. "Hang on. Why're we sitting here, while breakfast's going cold?" Alena burst into giggles, and soon enough Link followed her, his worries forgotten for the moment. 

- 

_-there-_

_Why can I not find him? He eludes my grasp, wherever I try... Does he realise his power as yet? Has he come into his own already?  
If he has... are my plans ruined?  
No!   
I will find the foolish boy eventually.  
And then...  
Revenge...  
No matter which face he bears..._

_-here-_

- 

A knock at the door. "Could you get that, Link? I'm kind of busy here..." yelled Malon from the kitchen. He got up and opened the door, but no-one was there. He dismissed it as some sort of a practical joke, and sat down again. Alena nudged him, curious.  
"Practical joke, Link? Who d'you think it could be?"  
"Don't have a clue. But - is it just me, or does it feel sort of chilly in here?"  
"Hmm. It's not just you. Do you think it was a ghost, then?"  
"Nah. I don't think a ghost would bother knocking, somehow."  
"Probably nothing, then." She reached out for a slice of toast, then stopped and groaned. "I'm going to get a drink. My head is killing me." She got up from the table a little unsteadily. Worried, Link followed. 

"Alena - what's up? If that's just a headache..."  
"It's not just... ah! Alena collapsed to the ground, head held in both hands. "There's... there's something in my mind!" She screamed. "Whoever you are - get out! Get out!" She screwed up her eyes tight.  
"What's happening to you, 'Lena?" The only thing it reminded Link of was putting on a magic mask - but it clearly wasn't that...  
Alena ceased her struggle. A faint green aura surrounded her form as she stood up.  
"Are you okay? Alena?"  
"She is safe. But you do not address her at the moment." 

She opened her eyes.  
Link took a step backwards. _Impossible!_ his brain yelled. 

They were green. Pure emerald-green, with no whites and no pupils.  
The eyes of a _deity..._  
"I am Farore. Goddess of Courage." 

-  
A/N: Sorry that my chapter seems to have... er, shrunk again... but you try writing anything after that ending!.  
And thanks to Kylo for reviewing.


	9. Chaos Theory

**Guardian of Time**  
Usual applies. You know who I own. Anyone else belongs to Mr. Miyamoto and Co.  
Shameless plug time. Check out my websites! _http://members.aol.com/dragonheart360/ _is your source for artwork from this series, while _www.geocities.com/zeldagenerations/ _includes a comprehensive Zeldapedia (though it needs updating). Thanks!  


**_Chapter 8 - Chaos Theory_ **

- 

Link's mouth opened of its own accord, but there were no words to put into it. He didn't know what the biggest shock was. The fact that the goddess actually existed, the fact she was talking to him, or the fact that she was talking through his girlfriend... That is, if it _was_ actually Farore... but who else could it be?  
"Why are you so surprised, Oni'kara?"  
The use of the name shocked Link out of his trance. No matter who it was who was talking to him, he was going to get one thing straight. "Excuse me... that's not my name any more. I'm Link."   
"The Hero of Time goes by the name Link. Not the Guardian of Time..."  
"That's it! What does that mean, anyway? I mean, Sheik, Zelda, said that to me, when I was..."  
"When you were in another timeline? Don't you think I know that? I was the one who told her in the first place! I was the one who saw you for who you are..."  
"What do you mean?"  
Calmly, Farore began to explain. 

"Time flows like a river, Oni'kara."  
"Link."  
She ignored him. "Though to someone within its stream, it seems to be all there is... from outside, it is clear just how fragile it is. Everywhere along its course, it forks away into different histories... every decision taken, every action made, changes the path of time. A butterfly could flap its wings in Zora Falls... and a sandstorm would blow up in the Haunted Wasteland that wouldn't have done so before. Time is relative... reality is relative... 

"You have seen just how easily time splits, yourself. And that is because you are destined to be its guardian. It is your duty to see that history always follows its true path. You must fight the battles that history's course demands... you said it yourself once, what is right doesn't matter, only what will happen..." 

"No! That wasn't me... I don't think like that... That was the Fierce..." Link's mouth snapped shut, realising the trap he'd walked into.  
"It was you, Oni'kara." This time, Link didn't even protest. "But there is more to your fate than that... Many individuals have sought to control the powers of time for their own good. Even at this moment, one is doing just that. I believe you know him... In fact, he seeks for you, to destroy you while you are still weak."  
"Weak?!" yelled Link. "I'm not..."  
"Compared to how you were, and how you will be again, you are. You are destined to be the eternal warrior, the link between past and future, darkness and light, order and chaos, one world and another... The one who will protect the flow of time from those who would seek to turn it to their own ends... More than a hero... " 

For a moment, there was silence as Link tried to take it all in. 

"Okay. Say I believe you. Why me, of all people?"  
"I should have thought that was obvious. You know what it is to alter the flow of history. You were Hyrule's Hero of Time, and the protector of Termina, after all. But even apart from that, there is one special reason why it could never be anyone else..." 

Malon pushed open the bedroom door, and listened to the latest part of the tale unfolding as Farore began to speak. 

- 

_In the beginning was nothingness, a world without form or life.  
Until they came. The three golden goddesses, Din, Farore, Nayru. Those who would create a world anew. And on their departure, leave behind them a sacred sign of their power...  
But they were not alone as the deities of the fledgling world. Another came with them. A silver god, their brother. While his sisters concerned themselves with creation, with the present, Oni'kara concerned himself with the past and the future and gave the gift of time to the realm. While the goddesses were content to leave their worlds after their formation, he was not so. Life, activity, fascinated him._

_And as time passed, he grew more and more attached to the physical worlds - and to their inhabitants. In a realm that would one day become known as Termina - he found a true love. A young girl of a noble family, fair and kind. Her gentle nature was a complete opposite to the fierce Oni'kara, but he was attracted to her as two poles of a magnet. Unaware of her admirer's true status, believing him to be a prince of some far-off land, she returned his feelings completely...  
But a god and a human - it was never meant to be..._

_The goddesses were angry at what they saw as their brother's treachery. He was cast out from his position at their side, to live his life as a mortal man... At last, he believed that he could find peace with his beloved. Yet he was still immortal, deep inside, and as the creator of Time it did not touch him. While he watched as his lover aged, withered and eventually died, and their children too - he remained physically young. To all appearances, he was a youth on that fine dividing line between man and boy. And he knew that he would live forever to remember his fate.   
For thousands of years, he wandered the worlds, hoping to find solace inside - but it was an empty hope. Although in time he found his place in myth and legend as a powerful warrior - his very name being adapted to mean 'war' or 'chaos' - he never found the rest he desired. The inner rage ate at his soul, until he could not remember what contentment had felt like. In the end, it was all too much. The only peace he could achieve was in death - and as it would never come naturally, Oni'kara took matters into his own hands. _

_But as he was an immortal, he could never truly die...  
And the next day, he opened his eyes again, a baby boy oblivious to his past._

- 

"You will be the Guardian of Time... because in your past life, you were its creator. Inside you is the spirit of the exiled Oni'kara - though your body is currently that of a mortal, your soul is not. _You are the Fierce Deity_, for all that you try to pretend that you are not any longer. And you can never deny the darker side inside you, the part of your heart that longs for the battles of the infinite worlds..." 

For a second, there was a deep pause. Link couldn't accept what he was being told, wouldn't even try to believe it. It made an interesting legend, but he couldn't be... Something struck him. "But... a few months ago - I saw _him_! I _saw_ the Fierce Deity face to face..."  
"And you won that battle. Doesn't that strike you as strange? What you fought that day was the darker part of your spirit. As you were, the darkness and the light were still struggling within you. You'd spent ten years as two different people, after your soul had been severed from your body. Ironic, isn't it? Kaelon was just as much the Fierce Deity as the part of you who believed he was. Anyway... to pull yourself together again, your own unconscious mind created the illusion that you were fighting with yourself."  
"That was an illusion?" muttered Link. "It certainly felt real..."  
Farore continued after the interruption. "When you believed you had destroyed him, you brought your own soul back into balance. You threw off the mask that day - but you've never been able to destroy it, because inside it is still trapped your own power. When you truly accept it again, Oni'kara - " Link grimaced - "you will return to full strength. Even we will not stand in your way. We understand that we were wrong to exile you..."  
Link thought hard. It was strange, how she talked to him as if he was the prodigal brother that she'd just mentioned. For a fleeting moment, the impression that it all seemed familiar crossed his mind, but vanished as quickly. There was no way he could be, not if... 

"Hang on. I know that there's other versions of me in different timelines. Other _Links_." He stressed the last word. "What does this mean for them, then?"  
"No. They will not be affected. They will live out their lives, never knowing their past ones - live a mortal existence, never knowing their own immortality. You are the only one, you are unique. Out of all eternity, you are the only one who has experienced the full force of his powers over a long time - and returned to his old self to understand them. That makes you special."  
"_My _powers? That was all the mask..." 

"Haven't you been listening to me? Those powers - those were all your own! The wisdom to see the paths between worlds; the power that lets you fight any battle those worlds have to offer you and emerge victorious; the courage to never run from a challenge that presents itself. Still, as you were and as you are, you could not take control of what is rightfully yours... We made it so that when you first wore the mask representing your true face, you would unlock the powers within your heart - but there was a problem."  
"You're telling me!" In the shock, the remark about his 'true face' passed over Link's head.  
"When you discovered the mask, you were only a child. We were sure that your mind was still as strong as that of who you had been - but it was not. Your spirit could not handle the powers placed upon you. You survived the first encounter with them intact, but on the second..."  
"I know. I cracked. But those were powers of darkness... and you say that... ?" Link was surprised.   
"For you to be the eternal warrior you were always destined to be, you must know both the darkness and the light. Darkness alone will destroy itself. Light, too. But the two, balanced, will create a force unequalled. You and your heroic spirit are the light; but to match that, you must wield the powers of the dark and the chaos. It is your destiny to take them up again..."  
Link totally ignored the fact he was addressing a goddess. _After all, _he reasoned, _if I'm supposed to be the Fierce Deity, I'm her equal..._ "Don't tell me about destiny... I've played your games long enough! Leave me alone!"  
"It's not that easy," whispered Farore. "The links in the chain of fate have been forged, and it is beyond even my powers to break it now." The light around the form she shared began to fade. She smiled faintly. "You're one of us.   
"Power... Din.  
"Wisdom... Nayru.  
"Courage... Farore.  
"_Time... Oni'kara._  
"Don't think that you can truly survive, if you try to believe yourself to be just who you do. Only Link? No. Oni Link? Yes. Look yourself in the eye, and say you're not the Fierce Deity, the Guardian of Time..." 

Farore closed her eyes.  
Alena opened them again, their usual sapphire colour. "Link... what just happened? Oh... my... I didn't... I wasn't... a ...?"  
Link nodded. "Do you remember?"  
"Yes... but how? Is that what it felt like to be..."  
"What did it feel like?"  
"Sort of... like I was watching a play, and I was one of the actors. My body was doing and saying all these things, but there was this little bit of me deep inside that was saying 'hey, what's going on here?'" She sighed. "I'm glad that's over, anyway. I'm okay now, but it's not nice not having your head to yourself..."  
"I understand exactly," he replied sympathetically.  
A voice came from the doorway. "And what was going on, then?"  
"Uh... Malon? Sis? You saw that?"  
"I saw something. I don't know what it was. You two arguing, I thought, but then... I think we all need a talk. All I know is that something or someone wants you to go back to the way you were..."  
"I'm not going anywhere," Link snapped. "You know perfectly well that there isn't a chance in the Sacred Realm that I'm going to put that mask to my face again. Not in a million years..." _But_, a traitorous voice in his head whispered, _there probably aren't going to be a million years left if you don't - because those million years are yours to protect_. "Shut up."  
"Pardon?"  
"Nothing. Just talking to myself." _Talking to Oni'kara, more like..._

_-_

An exhausted Link slung a bale of hay into Epona's stable and laughed as his mare nibbled at his hair instead, pulling on the chain of the amulet around his neck as she went. "Is that it, girl? Do you think I look good enough to eat? Well, lay off. I've still got two more horses to go..." She whinnied pathetically, sounding almost human. Struck by her sound, Link began to talk as he worked. "Oh, quit it! You know, it's a good job you don't know what I'm saying, because I'm about to talk nonsense to you. Who do you think I am, eh? Link, right? I'd say the same thing. So would Lena and Mally. But you ask just about anyone - well, you can't, but anyway - they'd probably call me the Fierce Deity, still. And now I hear that's who I'm supposed to be. Well - " he jabbed a pitchfork into the straw - "the great goddesses themselves can say it, but it doesn't make it true. What did she mean that I can't survive much longer? Rubbish. I've got every intention of living, right? You hear me?" He reached over to give Epona a scratch on the nose, and closed his eyes... 

_-there-_

"Kaelon! You're still not done in there?" Link blinked his eyes open, and looked around at Malon looking over the stable door. Well, he was nearly done, but why did she just call him by... _I've just jumped again, haven't I? _He was about to respond, when a yell came from the next stable along.  
"I'm in here, Sis!" His own voice, Link recognised. "And I'm done, too, so don't start throwing a strop." Malon looked back over her shoulder. Another Link was heading around towards her, identical but different to the one who rested his hand on the horse's nose.  
"Huh - Kae? But - if you're there, who's this?" She gave Link an accusing stare. "Horse thief? Trying to fool me into thinking you're my brother... but it's creepy, you two look identical. I'll have to get Mum..." She turned and headed away.  
Link realised what had happened, as soon as the last word was out of Malon's lips. In this world, his mother had found her way to the ranch and not to the forest. This was the family he could have known...  
The alternate Link allowed himself a smile. "So what are you doing there, eh? Usually, Epona goes mad if anyone 'cept us two goes near her. Or the Heroine."  
"Who?..."  
"Pfft. Oh, come on. You know? Heroine of Time? Five years ago? Lost heir to the throne, used to live in the forest? Everyone knows that, surely... Unless you've been living somewhere up Death Mountain since Nayru-knows-when. "  
_Zelda - in my place? _Link nearly blurted out, but bit his tongue. After all, it wasn't his place here, and she wouldn't be going by that name... _What's in a name, anyway?_ "I've not been up Death Mountain. I've been in another world..." 

_-there-_

The cold hit Link like an ice arrow. This was not the cosy insides of a stable. This was a wintery blast. _In the middle of summer? What sort of world have I arrived in now... Wait. I've jumped again - but to somewhere else? Not back home?  
...It's not your home anymore...  
Get lost. It's my home if I say it is.   
...Words, Link, Oni'kara. Just words..._

He saw two mounted figures galloping towards him. One was a parallel, almost unsurprising after so many timeline shifts, but with an arrogance written on his features which would have been more fitting if those features had included white eyes.  
_...Like your own...  
Shut up!_  
The second - Link swallowed - was, was... was Ganondorf.  
They rode side by side.  
_How? That's not possible!_

_-there-_

It was a relief to get away from that world, although Link's curiosity was piqued.  
_...Perhaps you'll see it again as its guardian?...  
Not a chance! Since I'm not going to _be _its guardian!_  
He saw someone coming towards him again. Tall, robed in ornate cloaks...  
His body took the initiative. 

_He's escaped again! But I saw him go that time... I can follow him!_

_-there-_

A volcanic crater... 

_-there-_

An icy waste... 

_-there-_

Faces... 

_-there-_

Slowly... 

_-there-_

falling... 

_-there-_

into... 

_-there-_

darkness... 

_-here-_

Link collapsed, knocking down a water bucket in the corner of Epona's stable. The mare whinnied in shock, sending Malon running out to hear what the commotion was. "Link - what's up? Don't start playing dead on me! Oh, come on - wake up!" She reached for his wrist and felt a weak, fluttering pulse. "What happened now? How did you knock yourself out..."  
Weakly, he struggled awake. "The worlds... too much..." Blue eyes locked together for a fleeting second, before Link's slid shut, their colour flickering as they did.  
"Oh... damn." She turned back to the ranch house and yelled. "Hey, Alena! He's out cold! Can I have a hand here?" 

- 

He lay asleep, comatose, resting. Alena leant down to his ear. "You told me this once, when I was in the same place you are, now I'm telling it to you. I love you, Link. I don't want to lose you... you're going to pull through... you can't die like this..." Her speech broke down into sobs. Suddenly, it struck her. She called over to Malon.   
"..._She_... said that _Link _could not survive much longer as he is."  
"Do you think... that..." She didn't want to put words to her fears.  
That, to get her best friend, her adopted brother back, she would have to lose him forever...  
That Link might not survive - but Oni certainly would... 

She unclipped the amulet from around Link's neck, knowing he would have no more use for it, and picked the mask from out of the drawer. 

- 

A/N: Well... that's my take on the 'history of F.D.' anyway... MindTrap (shameless plug alert!) will fill in even more of the tale.  
And apologies over pulling out the old quote about the butterfly flapping its wings, beloved of scientists and people who use the word 'chaos' or 'quantum' a lot everywhere. Not very original, I know - but kind of appropriate, considering, eh? 

Okay - yes, I know that Zelda talks about the Goddess of Time at the beginning of MM. However - who says she know any more on the subject than Link does? To her, it would all just be legend, and seeings how she'd only really know about the three goddesses, it would only make sense for her to pick up on that...  
Hmmm... I'm getting an idea here! 


	10. The True Face

Guardian of Time - Chapter 9 

**Guardian of Time**  
OK. Usual goes here, as in I Don't Own Zelda But Good Old Mr. Miyamoto Does. 

**_Chapter 9 - The True Face _**

- 

They looked at his still, lifeless form lying on the bed. His complexion was ash-pale, sickened and weakened. Who could have imagined that this poor soul could have once borne the title 'Hero of Time'? 

Yet he was not dead.  
He merely slept. But this was a sleep that he would not awaken from as he was...  
A child of light, but he could not survive without the darkness - and the destiny he had tried to avoid so long. 

Alena glanced back at Malon, who nodded. "Go on. We both know it's the only way..." She swallowed, and picked the mask up off the table. Slowly, she reached down and lowered it onto his face.   
"I'm sorry, Link. But Time needs its protector - and I need my hero. Please forgive me..." A blue light seemed to burn where the smooth wood met soft skin. Alena jumped back in surprise. She turned back towards her friend, and took her hands. 

The fires of the soul crackled across his body as the transformation took hold. Pure energy bathed him, as his body was filled with a power his mind could not comprehend. In one last electric-blue burst, the last of his old form disappeared. Only the eye of experience could have compared who lay there now to who he had been but seconds ago - tall, proud, and with a rage etched on his features visible even in his sleep. 

Link yelled, and woke up someone else. 

"Whaa...!" He blinked, and sat up. Immediately, he felt the differences, felt the solid touch of the armour around his frame. He leapt out of bed and ran to the nearest mirror, almost afraid of what he would see - but knowing the truth deep inside.   
But to see in his reflection the face he had sworn never to bear again... Link closed his pure-white eyes and thought deeply.   
_So. They did it. I can't believe they'd do this to me. Who was it who put the mask to my face? Who forced me into this form?  
But wait... I'm seeing it, but I'm not feeling it, not in my mind... I'm still thinking like the old me. I don't feel like the Fierce Deity, that's for sure.  
No. I've got a heart.   
It's like this is all an illusion, but I know it isn't.  
Well. This is me now. It looks like I've got to get used to it.   
Unless... no, I can't take the mask off now.  
Isn't it better to be in control of my actions, even appearing like this, than to be as good as dead?  
But I'm as good as dead now... the old Link's been destroyed... or has he?  
Who am I?_

He turned back towards the two women, standing in the corner, and saw fear in their faces. Neither Alena not Malon could decide who they saw.  
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, love... don't look so scared, sis... But tell me, who was it who decided to..."  
Malon spoke up first. "We both did. Neither of us could bear to see you lying there..."  
"It was the only way, Link. I hope you can forgive us."  
"Yes. No. Of course I do. I understand... but still..." He thumped a fist into the other palm, surprising himself with his own strength. That was definitely another thing he'd have to get used to... "I don't know. I guess I'm just ...disappointed that you couldn't leave me alone."  
"How could we? How could I live, knowing you were hardly alive with me?"  
For a second, he remained silent. "So it was you, Alena."  
"Yes... yes... but..."  
"But it was either that or see you die. Alena may have done this to you - but I told her to. If you're going to blame anyone, blame me, Link." Malon took a deep breath, her voice cracking. "Don't forget, I heard everything you were told too. Although I don't want to lose you again... you are the Guardian of Time, and this was always your destiny... to take up the role of an eternal warrior."  
He turned his back. "It's easy to talk about destiny when it's someone else's. But it's not so easy when it's your own future..."  
"You think it's easy for us?" snapped Alena, oblivious to who it was she was shouting at. "I'm going to lose the man I love, because of this stupid thing called fate! Mal's going to lose her best friend for a second - third time! Call that easy?"  
"No... no, I'm sorry." Link sighed. "Come here..." He held both Alena and Malon in his arms, starting to lift them off the floor as he went. "I'll always remember you. Always... " He lowered them back down, and gasped suddenly as a strange pain shot through his chest. 

He could feel the future calling. The sixth sense that he had first felt travelling back to Hyrule was strong and clear in his mind, guiding him to his destination. Now he was beginning to understand what it was.   
It hadn't led him to his home - but to his fate. 

He knew who he was, now.  
No need to give himself another name.  
_They can call me anything they like. They can call me Oni if they want, use any of my names. But I'm who I am. Fierce Link... _

Link sprinted out of the doorway. He grabbed the sword lying in a corner as he ran, and saw its twin blades twist and coil around each other. This was the weapon he had carried for ten years as a part of himself... but something felt wrong. Subtly wrong. The helix sword felt no more important than the Biggoron's blade he had once used. Now he came to think about it, he really did not feel right. The armour around him weighed him down as it had during his recent travels, rather than being an almost-unregarded presence. He felt like his body was a size too big for his spirit, too... None of the energy he had once known followed his movements.   
But there was no time to think about that.   
Destiny was calling, and it wasn't going to wait any longer.  
He ran on into the night. 

- 

"Come on! Where are you? Come on out and face me!" Link raged, as his heart threw itself into a battle that had not even begun.  
"At last... we meet, fierce one." A figure moved out - cloaked in shadows, as well as the more usual sort of cloak. Only two red-brown eyes showed through the brown-and-navy robes, ornate with strange swirls and patterning.   
"You know who I am - but who are you, then?"  
"Your destroyer. One who will claim the powers of time for his own, while its protector lies defenceless..."  
"You really think so?"  
"I've already begun. Even now, I have tapped the hidden powers, I have altered the river's flow... and you couldn't do anything about it."  
"No. " Link fixed his adversary in his burning gaze. "You have no right to twist time to your own ends. I am its guardian! I will not let you get away with this..."  
"You think you can stop me?" On cue, the stranger fired a volley of energy bursts straight for Link, who leapt out of the way just in time. He swung his sword, intending to send a blast of his own back - but nothing happened. It was as if something was holding back the powers he should have used.  
_Something's wrong._  
He was forced into a wild backflip to avoid the next attack. Despite his heavy-set appearance, his adversary moved with a surprising turn of speed, and a confused Link found himself in a corner. He held his sword in the defensive position, to block the blows as best he could... 

_I've put on the Fierce Deity's mask... what's wrong? Why haven't I..._  
A voice in his head, his own but not his own, answered his question.   
_...You think you have become something you have not. But the mask is only a tool, remember? The rest is up to you..._  
As he tried his best to attack the mysterious opponent, he could feel something inside him. One point of pure power, locked deep within his heart, darkness trapped within the light... 

He reached for the darkness and caught it tight.  
Instantly, the hidden rage flowed through his body, as he unlocked the secrets within.  
How could it be, that something could both hurt and soothe, curse and bless at the same time? Pure power coursed in his veins, transforming though the changes were complete. 

Suddenly, a pulse of light... 

- 

_Whiteness...  
"Where am I?"  
"Safe in the Sacred Realm," whispered a voice he recognised as Nabooru's. "Link... the Fierce Deity is about to take over your body again. We can save you..."  
"No, you can't. Because that's who I am. The only person taking over my body will be myself. I'm sorry..."  
"You want to be trapped in the darkness?" That one was Ruto.  
"I don't _want_ to. But I'm not going to. It's not a prison... it's a key."  
"But that means..." Saria, shocked.  
"Yes. That's right. Let me go. Let me face my destiny..."  
Whispered farewells, voices he would always remember..._

- 

As suddenly as it had began... it ended.  
The warrior surveyed the scene, darkness and light in perfect balance. Now he knew the truth. A child's mind could never have handled these forces... and there were powers here that the child had never imagined existed. Not even that split-personality, the false 'Oni Link' who had lived ten years believing himself to be more than just a shadow of his true self, had ever touched on this... 

_...The chaos does not control me. I control it... It is part of me, and I of it..._

Unconsciously, he raised a hand to his face. He knew now that it would be easier to pull off his left arm than it would be to pull away the mask...  
For there was no mask there, if there ever had been. 

The Fierce Deity's Mask had been destroyed. It was his true face now, as much a part of him as anything else.  
Only Fierce Deity Link, Guardian of Time, remained. 

- 

A/N: Well, we all knew that was coming! Sorry about The Incredible Shrinking Chapter, but it just sort of happened...  
Good to see ff.net on the go again, eh?


	11. More Than A Hero

Guardian of Time - Chapter 10 

**Guardian of Time**  
Usual applies. You know who I own. Anyone else belongs to those wonderful people at Nintendo. And this may give away a bit of the ending of MM - but if you get the whole 'Fierce Deity' thing anyway, it shouldn't. 

**_Chapter 10 - More than a Hero_**

- 

"I'm going after him."  
"No... Don't be stupid, Lena... He's gone, we've both got to accept it."  
"I just want to say goodbye! That's all... I just want to see him one last time..."  
"You're serious, aren't you! Well... He'll be out there somewhere. I'm coming with you. We'll go after him together..."  
"Go after who?"  
Alena and Malon span round, and looked into Cam's face. Fresh from a visit to the castle, his old haunt, he had appeared behind them with a halfway amused expression. "Uh - no-one."  
"Fat chance. It's Link, right? He's run off? Gone back to who he was?"  
They looked nervously at each other, and then at Cam. "As a matter of fact, yes. How did you guess?"  
"I didn't guess. I saw him heading across the field. I knew he couldn't stay so harmless for long." He took an almost malicious pleasure in recounting what he'd seen. He might have almost forgiven Link - but not the Fierce Deity. "So... so much for your 'little brother', eh, Malon?"  
It was only Alena's restraining hand on her shoulder that kept Malon from jumping up. As it was, she bit her lip. "It's not what it seems like..."  
"Oh? I clearly saw... Giant sword and all. His eyes were really glowing... How are you going to explain that, then..."  
"If you'd stop jumping to conclusions, maybe I could explain!" 

- 

Link's opponent looked straight into his burning white eyes.   
He knew what had happened. 

"So... you accept your fate at last? You choose the mask, fierce one?"  
"Don't you dare tell me about hiding behind masks!" Link shouted, furiously. "You're seeing my true face, now... But I am yet to see yours, it seems..."  
"You've seen me before, for all that you don't realise it..."  
The cloak concealing the form of Link's nemesis seemed to dissolve into thin air. No! That couldn't be... 

"Oh, yes, Link! I was the one who gave you the face you bear so proudly..."  
The figure that stood there now - was Majora. Of a sort. But not a sort recognisable as any Link had encountered. The apparition appeared half-way between the great mask-demon, Majora's Wrath... and a true human being, fused together in a sickening combination. A true monster, strange and distorted.  
"You shouldn't be here!" Link yelled, denying the evidence of his own eyes. "Thirteen years ago! You..."  
"You destroyed me, you thought? Oh, no, you poor deluded fool... You merely destroyed my physical form, not my spirit. My... call it my essence... was set free. I could not return to the mask - but I found another home, that served my purposes for the time... One of the old man's books. It only took his opening my volume to reveal and release me... And now! I take my revenge on the little boy who dared ruin my plans, and take out the one obstacle in my way... Hyrule, Termina, all will become wasteland with their protector gone... Absolute chaos!"  
_...The truly evil ones all go on, _Link mused,_ and then they say the stupidest things... _"Hyrule will turn to chaos, you say?"  
"Precisely!"  
Link grinned. "Then I'd say it's in pretty good hands..."  
"What do you mean?"  
"You don't get it, do you? Me. Link. The _Fierce Deity. Chaos_ in human form... I'd have thought you'd know that much. Since you claim to have made me what I am, surely you should know what you made. But you didn't make me... you were just a tool of a greater power."  
"Never!..." Majora screeched. "Prepare to be destroyed!" 

It launched a volley of blinding energy bolts towards where Link stood, apparently calm and collected. For a second, it seemed they would hit him, surely...  
He leapt skywards, bringing his sword over his head as he landed right in front of Majora. He smiled strangely, as a stray memory came back to him.   
"I know. Let's play good guys and bad guys..." The double blades smashed into the demon's sides. "And didn't you say I was the bad guy?" 

Majora wailed in pain. For a second, Link saw a fleeting glance of a human emotion in its strange eyes... and suddenly realised.  
The human half of this monster was one who had taken him in for two years, even to reject him at the end... 

_..."It is not what you have done to me, but what you will do..."... Did he know already that this would happen?..._

Majora seemed to sense Link's thoughts. "What? You pity the old man? Why? He accepted me, as you accept yourself! He and I are one... you cannot destroy me without destroying him too... Surely, you of all people should understand that much!" Link stood back, trying to work things out for a second. Could he really kill someone who... who could even have been a father-in-law, if fate had turned out differently? Even though _this _had happened to him? It was a mistake, and a long, lashing whip thrust out and sent him to the ground.  
_...He would see you killed. There is no room for sympathy left. The old man is gone. You should destroy Majora before he destroys you..._

The Fierce Deity jumped to his feet, and sent a blaze of blue light smashing towards his oldest adversary. Sympathy and pity were forgotten as he threw himself into the battle. 

_...Kill or be killed... Destroy or be destroyed... This is your fate... could it ever be any other way?..._  
Even as he fought, he began to forget his old qualms, his old fears over the future... indeed, he no longer remembered what it felt like to be afraid...  
The two opponents circled. Every attack of Majora's was dodged... but he moved too fast for Link to score too many direct hits of his own.  
It would take something drastic to break the stalemate... 

Suddenly, Link stopped in his tracks. Majora didn't notice the faint smile on his lips, as it sent two whipping attacks straight in...  
But that was exactly what he was counting on.  
_...I could do this back when I was only my old self, it was one of the first things I learned... Why didn't I think of it before?...Of course, this time's going to be different..._  
He dropped down to hit the ground. A bubble of an unearthly electric-blue flame burst out around him in a perfect hemisphere, illuminating the night sky. The fire shot up the lashing tentacles, and Majora screeched in pain as the flames consumed it... 

- 

"You saw that light? That'll be him! Are you ready?"  
"Sure! I'm coming now... wait a minute..."  
"There might not be a minute to wait. Hurry up..." 

- 

...but with its last ounce of strength, it kept attacking. Link was quietly impressed by his adversary's nerve, but didn't show it. One sword strike, one energy blast, after another, he returned any blow aimed. Every nerve in his body burned with a hidden energy. 

_...This is how it was always meant to be. I spent so long fighting myself, and in the end the favourite was the winner after all..._

He vaulted backwards over a spiked, spinning disc launched at his feet - but the blades caught his legs as he jumped. He silently cursed his own stupidity, as he sent his own blades in towards Majora. The wound smarted, and glancing downwards he expected to see blood - but the only sign of the injury was a line of bluish energy tracing the cut. He had no time to wonder what it meant, however, as he kept his assault up... 

Blow after blow.  
Strike after strike.  
Attack after attack.  
A deadly dance of skill and cunning.  
A lethal game.  
And Link was winning. 

He never knew which of his blows ended the battle. One moment, he was diving in, helix sword slicing the air into blue light... the next, standing over the fallen body of the demonic monster, his white eyes locked with Majora's strange red swirls. 

"...Finish...it..."  
What was that? A voice? Again, it came. "End...my torment...finish it..."  
Suddenly, he realised what - or who - it was. The last breath of a human spirit within a monster's frame - as it were, the person trapped behind the mask... 

_...End it!..._  
He closed his eyes, yelled, and thrust the sword downwards. Unseen, the inert form of Majora dissolved into energy and light, fracturing, fading away into nothingness...  
Empty eyes opened onto an empty vista. He had done his work here. The battle was over.   
He felt weary, fatigued in a way that had nothing to do with his body. The Fierce Deity had emerged the victor, and would have expected to feel pride or satisfaction - but the heart that beat within him was still that of Link of Hyrule, and he could not help but feel a sense... if not of guilt, then of pity, of sadness. Over a life that had been thrown away. He knew there could have been no other way - but it didn't make it any easier. He blinked, put his sword away, and turned to go - but where, he did not know. The first hint of an unknown future crept into his mind... He looked back towards his old homes - turning his gaze in turn towards the forest, towards the castle, and towards the ranch. But none of them was his home now. 

He turned to go. But as he did so, he saw two figures on horseback, galloping towards him as fast as possible -  
"Alena? Malon? What are you doing here?"  
"We couldn't let you leave... without saying goodbye!" Alena made a clumsy dismount and ran towards Link as fast as possible, almost oblivious of who she was running towards. She didn't care that this was a seven-foot-tall, all-powerful warrior - all she saw was the person she loved. Eyes closed, she wrapped her arms around his armoured frame. "Link... I am really, really going to miss you..."  
"I'm going to miss you, too. I'll think of you forever..." And, he knew now, forever would mean forever. He would not cry, would not show emotion in his snow-white eyes - but he suddenly felt its crushing weight upon him. A long, lonely future. Until that moment, Eternity had meant nothing to Link. But now... Infinity was more than just a word. It was his existence. His destiny.   
_Forever..._

Gently, he lifted Alena from the ground and wrapped his powerful arms around her. "Just... try to remember me... because I'll always remember you." He lowered her to the floor and walked over to where Malon sat on Epona. "You, too. But... I doubt you came all the way out here just to say 'so long'. What's that you've got there?"  
"I thought... I thought you might want this. Just in case..." She passed over the diamond-bladed dagger Link had retrieved from the castle. He slipped it away, surprised. "And this..." She handed him the ocarina. "Think of me every time you play our song." Her words struck a strange chord, mirroring Saria's of thirteen years back so closely...   
He blinked. "Thank you." He looked from Malon to Alena and back, and then to the instrument he held in his hands. It seemed so fragile - and as he regarded it, it too changed to an instrument more suited to his role. The wood became a material more like ivory, and gold tracings embroidered it. "I guess this is goodbye, then. But... there is one thing I can leave to you too." He pocketed the ocarina - no-one saw where - and wordlessly lifted his hands to the sky. Between his palms formed a sphere of brilliant, blinding white light. Slowly, he brought it down in front of him. Alena ran over to see what was happening - and took a step back as Link revealed what the light hid. 

Link nodded to them both. "The Hero's Mask. All that is left of the Link you know is all that I can give to you. It's yours." 

He walked away. One last glance over his shoulder, and a whispered "Goodbye..." - but somehow, in the stillness of the night, even whispers carried a long way.  
"Goodbye... I thought I'd never lose you again..." Malon stretched out, and waved until Link was out of sight.  
"Goodbye, my hero... you'll always be in my heart..." Alena's voice choked as she looked out into the distance - and then into the back of the mask. "Always..." 

- 

Link raised one hand covered in black and silver armour to white eyes that could see more than mortal man's could, and scanned the horizon. Where would this quest lead him? What was his fate? 

He paused, and lifted the ocarina to his lips. The three-note pattern of the Song of Time flowed out. Each note fell like light through the dark night - and his path stood out as if the light had shone upon it. That strange call, leading him to the paths between worlds, between times...  
_...My future begins here..._

The Fierce Deity walked on into an eternity that was his, and his alone, to protect. Now and forever. 

- 

A/N: Thank you! It's done (well, except the epilogue, which is just a poem, but...)! _Thankyouthankyouthankyou_!!   
Special thank you's go to anyone who's reviewed this... (takes a deep breath)... Tomoe Hotaru, jade_angel86 (^_^), kylo, Dark Sage, Kahlan, wulfpaw, and anyone I might have missed... if you're reading this now, your support's meant a lot to me. 

As this is my final author's notes of the story, I think I'm allowed to go overboard.  
About the 'Hero's Mask' - that's real. If you can remember when MM was still The Continuing Saga, screenshots show a normal adult Link's face as a mask, don't they? One that you could play at any point in the game (looks like anyway), not just FD's stupid "bosses-only" rule. I wonder why they changed it? I'm glad they did... hehehe...   
Rant part one. Why did Nintendo take the Sakon's Hideout trick - that is, the one allowing you to get FD virtually anywhere - out of the UK version? Ooh... it's enough to get me really fiercely narked...  
Rant part two. If they could change an adult Link to FD, which is pretty big, they could always change a more current game (cough, NGC, cough), couldn't they? I haven't got anything against the Disney animation style on its own - but, frankly, wouldn't it be more suitable for Mario, leaving them the realistic style for Zelda? I'm sure it'll play just fine, but... Okay. Rant done.   
Apologies to the 'Pokemon posse' for ripping off a bit of the second movie - if you've seen it, you'll know what I'm getting at. (Yes. I mean 'the world will turn to ash'.) 


	12. Epilogue

A Fierce Deity's lament 

**Guardian of Time**  
Nintendo own the Zelda games. Not me. Boo. 

_**Epilogue - Looking Back, Looking Forward**_

- 

_Half man, half god, all spirit, I wander  
The eternal bounds of all space and time  
Once I was hero, once but a villain  
Yet now I accept the fate which is mine..._

_Time cannot hold me, space an illusion  
I travel the worlds that call to my heart  
I live in none, but exist in many  
To protect them all, I must play my part._

_Power! I strike, with the force of darkness.  
Courage! From no battles do I run.  
Wisdom! To search the worlds forever more -   
Their guardian eternally, the fierce one..._

_Sometimes, in my quest through eternity,  
I dare to dream, to dream and to think...  
What is my future? The path and the fate,  
For one who once bore the proud name of Link..._

- 

A/N: Thank you all for reading this story. I can only hope you've enjoyed it. See you next time!  
Watch this space for Part 3 of FD - The Continuing Saga - 'Mindtrap'... 


End file.
